


Mein Welt

by teardrop193



Series: Life at It's Finest [4]
Category: Nagron - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2013-08-02
Packaged: 2017-12-15 13:22:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 65,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/850019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teardrop193/pseuds/teardrop193
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning: Mentions of Child Abuse</p></blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Dad! We’re fine.” Eva’s persistence made Nasir feel a little better but he was still worried about them. He knew that they were in Duro’s capable hands, that Kat had taken the week off to help out and that Kore was staying as well but he still couldn’t help worrying. “Lea’s missing you but she’s starting to adjust to it. So where did dad take you?”

Agron had kept a pretty tight lid on their destination until they had left since he didn’t want Nasir to know first. He had told Duro and only Duro, knowing that his brother could keep the secret.

“Oh you know how your dad is. Somewhere sunny and warm, this years destination is a sunny little villa on a private beach in Miami.” Though Nasir would give him a hard time he was glad that Agron had proposed this trip and planned it out for them. In truth he did need a vacation from the world and this was what he needed.

“Sounds nice, now go and enjoy it.” Eva smiled to herself as she adjusted the phone against her ear. While she missed her fathers she was glad that they were at least enjoying themselves.

“Alright. You know where we are if any of you need anything, don’t be afraid to call. Oh and Eva?”

“Yea?” The girl was confused, she couldn’t imagine what this was all about.

“Your uncle called to ask if you were allowed to stay with Travis.” The words were a statement, not a question. Yet his voice was calm, not bearing any signs of anger as he spoke. “And your father and I have discussed it, to great lengths and decided that we will allow it but only if Chadara and Donar are home. Alright?”

Eva swallowed hard. She hadn’t intended for Duro to call them, and she was still waiting for him to yell at her. “A-alright.”

“I love you Eva, just remember that.”  Nasir offered a smile as Agron moved to rest his chin on his shoulder. “I’ll call later on alright?”

“Really dad it’s not necessary. We’re fine, you know that Uncle Duro would call if it were otherwise. Now enjoy yourself.” She hated the way that Nasir worried about them and she knew there was no way to make him stop. “Good by dad.” She never left time for him to respond before she hung up.

“Let me guess, they’re fine?” Agron’s voice was gentle as he pulled Nasir against him. “Come on, no kids, remember?” His lips pressed against his ear, tongue lolling over the shell of it before his teeth pulled at it.

“Mmmmm, I was beginning to forget.” Nasir relaxed against the other man, enjoying the attention he was paying to him. “However, I do appreciate….fuck…”

“I appreciate fucking as well.” Agron’s breath was warm against Nasir’s neck. “And in fact, I’m beginning to think that maybe that’s exactly what we should do.”

Nasir was annoyed as Agron left his assault upon his neck and ears. He wanted him to continue, he wanted him to press forward. The sound that slipped through his lips was a cross between a growl and a hiss. “Don’t tease, please.”

“Don’t you want to see the ocean first?” Agron already knew the answer but he thought he would ask anyways. It was a return of favors for the many times that Nasir had teased him, had made him wriggle in excitement and then had teased him for what felt like hours.

“It’ll still be there later today. Now please.” Nasir whispered, turning around to look at Agron, his fingers pushing up at Agron’s t-shirt, fingers rubbing at the muscle beneath. “Don’t make me beg.”

“I’ve told you before, you never need to beg.” Carefully Agron removed Nasir’s shirt, a gasp slipping through his lips, no matter how many times he saw the man, he still took his breath away.

“You’re staring again.” Nasir’s playful scold brought him from his day dream, eyes turning up to look at him. His hands pushing at Agron’s shirt again, finally pushing it off.

“I cannot help but.” Agron pulled him close, enjoying the feel of his skin against his own. “You are a beautiful human being. Everything I ever dreamed of and more.” The words were a whisper as his fingers traced over his body, rubbing against the skin at the top of his jeans before he undid the button and zipper on them.

“Please.” Nasir’s voice was hoarse as he pushed the jeans to the floor, leaving him in his boxers. “You are wearing far too much clothing for this though, now come on.” His own fingers worked at the button on the man’s jeans, irritated that he could not undo it.

“Issues?” Agron’s fingertips easily undid the buttons, a laugh slipping tween his lips as he pressed them to Nasir’s before pulling them down over his hips, letting them fall to the floor. “There, now we are even are we not?”

“Does that mean that you will quit teasing?” Nasir grinned planting kisses upon Agron’s neck.

“I suppose, if you insist.”

***

“You’re going to burn Dracula.” Nasir laughed softly from where he lay stretched out beside the man. He was always teasing Agron about the pale complexion of his skin, as if he never got out in the sun and yet Nasir’s darker complexion never seemed to burn and he and Lea were often out and about.

“I’ll be fine. So tell me, what is going on in the mind of my sweet Nasir?” Agron curled his arm around the man that lay beside him.

“I would but you wouldn’t like what’s on my mind.” He quirked a knowing smile, Agron hated when he couldn’t keep his mind from worrying about the kids when they were on vacations such as this. It was his family that made his life that much easier, that made him want to deal with life that much more and yet he was unsure of how to deal when they weren’t around.

“The kids.” Agron sighed shaking his head. “Duro called while you were in the shower, they’re fine Nasir, I promise it to you. Eva’s waiting for the shoe to drop about her staying with Travis but otherwise they’re doing great. The girls love having their cousins to play with, Derrick’s gone to Gannicus’, Eva’s spent more time with Crixus and Naevia then she ever has before and Kat loves having a baby in the house again. Duro’s blaming us for putting ideas in her head about having another one.” He rolled his eyes knowing his brother well enough to know that he wasn’t truly upset with them.

“I know, I know.” Nasir shook his head, ebony locks flying every which way as he did. “It’s just not something that I can turn off when I want to, I always worry about them and I know you do too. It’s kind of funny really, we try so hard to get away from them and then when we do, they’re all we can think about.”

“They are in good hands.” Agron leaned down pressing a kiss to his forehead a smile forming as he looked down at him. “Let’s enjoy ourselves and then when we get home we can worry about them. Crixus and Naevia are next door if they need help, Kore is there, I promise nothing will happen to any of our sweet little angels.”

Nasir couldn’t help but laugh as he looked at the man he had taken as his husband. “Let’s not push it by calling them angels, I will give you that they are good kids though. So, what say we stop laying here looking at the water and actually go and set foot in it huh?”

“Hmmmm, sea water, your hair, are you sure that’s a good combination.” He was teasing as he looked at him but it was something that he knew that Nasir would consider.

“I’ll be fine. Come on!” Nasir laughed pushing himself from the blanket, hair flying wildly before he held a hand out to Agron to help him up as well.


	2. Chapter 2

Taking it Agron pulled himself to his feet, moving along side of Nasir. He was amazed by the way that his long ebony locks looked as they blew in the wind, the sun lapping at his dark skin. If it hadn’t been for the years they had been together, Agron would have sworn that he was a god sent to look after him.

“Again with that staring thing.” Nasir simply shook his head. “Agron, dear, we need to have a conversation about that.”

“Shut up and enjoy it like I know you do.” Agron grinned wrapping an arm around Nasir pulling him close, laughing as he did. He knew that even though he complained, Nasir did like the attention.

A chuckle slipped through Nasir’s lips as Agron spoke. It was true, he did appreciate his affections and he did enjoy the feeling of his warm skin pressed against his own. “You know me too well.”

“As well as you know me Little Man.” Agron couldn’t help the smile that formed upon his lips as the cool waves lapped against his feet and legs. “You’ve come out of your shell so much over the years, it amazes me sometimes. Yet what truly amazes me is how you’ve brought me out of my shell and that’s something that I didn’t know anyone could do.”

“Well, honestly, I didn’t know that it was possible either.” Nasir smiled, eyes drifting to the water that was lapping against his skin now. “Yet I must ask, how is it that you’ve taught me how to swim?”

“You trust me, that’s how.” Agron offered a smile as his fingers ran through Nasir’s hair. “But we’ve taught you and that’s what is important, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so, but I’d much rather going back to the room and crawling into the Jacuzzi for awhile.” Nasir laughed holding a hand out to him as he looked at him.

“But the ocean was your idea.” Agron laughed as he looked at him. He knew that the man was able to change his mind rather quickly and this was probably one of the many changes of it but he wasn’t exactly prepared for this.

“I know it was but we’re supposed to go snorkeling tomorrow, we’ll have plenty of time in the ocean. Really, all I want is to spend some time with you all by myself, with you in my arms.” Nasir gently pressed his lips against Agron’s cheek. He was always enticed by the way that the stubble on Agron’s cheek felt under his lips. The rough coarse hairs under his soft full lips felt like heaven to him.

“Ah, yes, the snorkeling trip. I suppose it’s a good thing that we taught you to swim last year then now isn’t it?” Agron pressed a kiss to his lips wanting nothing more than to make him happy. He knew that at home, he rarely relaxed and he wanted to make sure that he did now. He wanted to do what it was that Nasir wanted to do.

“One of these years we’ve got to go home, Syria or Germany even.” Nasir paused, he knew that it had been a long time since either one of them had been there but much longer since Agron had. He knew that the brother’s missed their childhood home but when their mother had moved them to the states, he hadn’t ever complained. Even now, Agron never complained, never suggested going home, he had simply adjusted and moved on.

“Syria it is next year then.” Agron laced his fingers within Nasir’s, walking alongside of him as they started back for the villa. “It’s been forever since you’ve been home, perhaps we should invite your brother?”

Nasir shook his head. He didn’t know why it surprised him that Agron would put him first. Then again, he would do the same for Agron he supposed. “Or perhaps you and Duro aught to go home to Germany? Maybe next year we should amend things, take the kids with us and visit Germany with your brother and his kids?”

“We will talk about it Nasir.” Agron’s voice was soft, he wasn’t saying no but he certainly wasn’t saying yes either. They had started this yearly voyage not long after they had adopted Derrick, it had been Agron’s idea and he insisted each year that they must go, except the year before when Austen was born.

“We might, but I know you.” Nasir laughed as he held the man’s hand. “You will decide against it and instead will say that it is simply best that we go to Syria, that’s just how you are.”

“You’re supposed to be relaxing Nasir.” Agron grinned as he looked at him. “Just forget about it for awhile, we’ll figure it out eventually but for today, you’d best relax.” His words were playful when he spoke them.

“I will try.” The words were a whisper as Nasir spoke them. He could promise no more than that. His mind flitted back to things back home; hoping that the kids were alright back home and that they would continue to be so.

“You trust my brother don’t you?” The question was simple as Agron spoke it. He knew the answer but he sought only to reassure the man beside him.

“You know I do, I’d trust Duro with my life if I had to.” Nasir meant it, he had taken Duro in as his own family and he loved the man but he also knew the kids. Aerlia was prone to getting sick, Lea was attached to Nasir and Austen was prone to falling down no matter how careful a person watching him was.

“Then trust that he will take our kids in like he would his own.” Agron leaned down pressing a kiss to Nasir’s lips. “They’re in good hands, of course they’ll probably be a little spoiled by the time we get home but it happens.”

***

“You’re awfully stiff.” Agron’s finger tips rubbed at the muscle of Nasir’s back. “ Relax a little come on.” It was all that he really wanted right now, to feel Nasir relax under his hands.

“Mmmm, I am relaxed.” Nasir’s voice was quiet as he adjusted his head against the pillow that rested against his arms. “I don’t ever relax more than this.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of Child Abuse

Agron allowed a growl to slip between his lips as the phone on the night stand began to ring. Reaching over he picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.” Duro’s voice sounded off. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was but something wasn’t right.

“What is it?” His hands moved from Nasir’s back, sitting back on his feet so that he was straddling the man’s knees still.

“Easy Aggie. The kids are fine, I just needed to talk through something with you and I’m sorry if my timing isn’t the greatest.”

“It never is, what’s up Duro?” He felt Nasir’s back tighten under his hands at the words, and he carefully ran his hand over his back to calm him.

“Well, it’s Aery.”

“You said there was nothing wrong with the kids, come on Duro you’re not making sense now.” Absent mindedly his fingers drummed at Nasir’s back causing the man to twist and turn under his fingers.

“She’s fine Agron. Well, she is now anyways, I think, maybe.” Duro wasn’t even sure how to phrase it. “She came home really upset from school yesterday, told me that one of her friends lied.”

“They’re kids Duro, it happens, now can you tell me why you’re interrupting my vacation for this?” He’d almost said sex but figured his brother would not appreciate that.

“I said the same thing, explained it to her and then she told me that this little girl has lied about what her mommy and daddy did to her.” Duro was still having a hard time believing this.

“Which is?”

“Agron, I picked her up from school today on my way home. This little girl’s a mess, she tries to hide it but she’s bruised and I’m positive it’s not from falling down.” Duro sounded awful now, he couldn’t stand the thought of a little girl going through what they had as kids.

“You mean she’s abused?” Agron was trying to figure out what his brother was talking about. He thought that was what he was understanding but he wasn’t exactly sure.

“I-I think so Agron. I know kids fall down, I know they get bruised but this….Aggie I’ve never seen anything like this before. Aery’s pretty torn up about it, I don’t know what to say to her. She’s asleep right now but it took a lot to get there, I hate to put all of this on you, I know that you’re on vacation and enjoying yourself but I didn’t know what else to do.” Duro had finally taken a breath which made Agron smile, reminding him of their childhood.

“Duro, follow your heart, when we get home I’ll look into it. Until then, do what you think you need to. If that means that you call CPS then do it, if not then I understand.”

“Thanks Aggie.” Duro had known that his brother would know exactly what to say to make him feel better and that was why he called. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“It’s fine, you owe Nasir though.” Agron’s voice was playful as he spoke but there was some truth behind his words.

“Tell him I am sorry.” Duro sighed at the thought, he felt bad but he had needed to talk to him, even if he was interrupting. “Oh and Ganni says to tell you both, real fucking funny.”

“About?”

“Guess Duke tried to crawl in bed with him and Saxa. Duke won, Ganni’s been sleeping on the couch.”

“Oh I bet he’s in a good mood then. Alright, I owe him when I get home.” Agron chuckled before he let out a yawn. “I’ll let you go though Duro, I think I’m crawling into bed.”

“What a quickie before bed?” Duro teased as he spoke.

“To answer that question, I’m hoping it wont be a quickie, but I’m sure you probably didn’t want to hear that.” His brother had asked though and he had simply answered.

“Alrighty then. I think I’m going to let you go.” Duro sounded more than ready to get off the phone with him now.

“Later Bruder.”  Dropping the phone on the night stand again, his hands returned to Nasir’s back. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem. They alright?” Nasir’s eyes closed at the feel of his lover’s hands upon his skin.

“Fine. We’ll talk about it later.”

Rolling onto his back, Nasir grinned up at Agron. “So were you serious about what you said to Duro?”

“Which part?” Agron figured he knew which part he meant but he would tease anyway.

“The part about not wanting a quickie?”

“I’m never real big on quickies with you.” Agron’s hands drifted to the waist band of his boxers. “I mean, they were fun when we were first getting started and all but lately, if I want you. No, when I want you, I prefer it to be slow and sensual, or you know those night long deals that we both seem to enjoy.”

“Don’t play with me Agron, please, fuck me.” Nasir’s hands ran through Agron’s hands, pulling his head down so that he could press his lips to Agron’s.

Pulling his lips from Nasir’s, Agron ran his hand down Nasir’s cheek. “You’ll never have to beg. Come on, out of your clothes and we’ll make all of your wishes come true.” Agron’s hands slipped into Nasir’s hair as he ground his hips against his leg, allowing him to feel his hardening cock.

Without a second thought Nasir had shed the clothes, now lying naked beneath Agron on the bed. There were no words needed, they both understood. It wasn’t long before Agron had shed his clothing as well, the pair lost within one another’s arms, lips pressing together muffling one another’s moans and groans as they thrusted and twisted against one another.

***

“So Duro thinks that there’s some kind of abuse going on?” Nasir pressed the coffee cup to his lips as he slipped into the chair at the kitchen table for breakfast.

“He sounds positive that there is.” Agron sighed setting a plate down in front of the other man before he slid in across the table with his own.

“So…I….” Nasir sighed trying to decide what to do, how to proceed from here. “We really can’t do anything can we?”

“Well……” Agron paused. He had a plan, but he wasn’t sure that Nasir would agree with it. “I was thinking about this last night, and if you’re willing, I think I might know of something.”

Nasir’s face crumpled in confusion, making Agron laugh as he eyed him.

“What I’m saying is, if I know Duro, he’ll call CPS about it. Chances are that if it’s really as bad as he said it is, they’ll remove her from their care.” Agron paused, so far he knew that Nasir was following him. “Well, I was thinking, she already knows Aerlia, they’re close friends, what if we looked into fostering her? I mean it’s not like it’s the first time that we’ve worked with them or taken in a foster or anything.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Agron, I understand that you want to help.” Nasir’s eyes fell upon the love of his life. “However, we don’t have somewhere to put her. It just isn’t an option that we have right now, I wish we did.”

Agron allowed a sigh to slip between his lips. He knew that Nasir was right but there had to be some way that they could help this little girl out, he just didn’t know what it was yet. “Aerlia would be more than happy to share her room, you know how she misses rooming with Lea.”

“Agron, I understand that you want to help. I wont pretend that I don’t but, let’s be rational about this. How are we going to make this work? We’re already running eight different ways; can we really take another one on?” While Agron was the optimist, Nasir was the realist and he looked at life that way.

“Yea, I think so but if you say no then I’ll understand I guess.” There was nothing that Agron wanted more than to help this little girl but he also knew that it wasn’t worth upsetting Nasir either.

“Hey, I’m not saying no Agron, you know that. I’d never say no to you. I just want to know what’s going on in your head, that’s all.” Nasir’s eyes fell upon him. “Talk to me, tell me what you’re thinking about this.”

“I think that they all deserve to be loved Nasir and I know that we cant save them all. It’s just, after everything that we went through as kids, every time that dad hit Duro and I, I cant just look the other way and pretend like I don’t know what that’s like. This little girl is far too young to have to know what that’s like, I just want to help.”

Pushing himself from the chair, Nasir wrapped his arms around Agron, holding him close to him. “I know baby.” The words were a whisper as he spoke them, he knew that Agron’s past was at the root of this, he’d always known this. In fact that was probably the reason that he they had adopted Eva in the first place. “If this is really what you want, if this will make you happy, then it is what we’ll do. I just need you to be honest with me; I need you to talk to me. That’s the only way it will work, and I don’t want to hear you say that you’re fine all the time. Be honest with me, alright?”

“Alright.” Agron leaned back against Nasir, glad to be in his embrace. In truth, he had not slept well the night before. He’d been up thinking about what Duro had said, they’d both been through hell so for Duro to say that he had never seen anything like this, scared him.

“What say you call your brother and tell him we’re coming home early. We’ll take care of this the way that it should be taken care of and then later on this year we’ll take another vacation.” Nasir’s voice was serious as he spoke, he knew the affect this was having on the man that he loved and he wanted nothing more than to see him smile and laugh again.

“Oh…” Agron paused as he thought about it. “No, no.” He hadn’t meant to put an early end to their vacation; he had only wanted him to know what he was thinking. “It can wait till we get home.”

“Agron, let me take care of you for once.” The words were quiet as Nasir settled into the bigger man’s lap, looking up at him. “You look like you didn’t sleep a wink last night and that could very well be a bad thing when it comes to your health and such. “

“ Alright, alright, I agree. However we aught to call Gannicus first.” A smile played at the German’s lips as he looked up at him.

“And why is that?”

“Because he’ll be thrilled to know that he will have his bed back soon enough.” Agron couldn’t help but laugh as he spoke. It was a sight that made Nasir relax and feel better about how Agron felt.

“I’ll start planning the trip back, call your brother and let him know that we’re coming home. When he insists that he’s sorry for breaking up our vacation tell him that eventually he can repay us for it but right now this needs to be taken care of.”

Agron sighed as he looked at the man, taking a deep breath he picked up the phone, dialing Duro’s number he pressed it to his ear waiting for an answer.

“Ja?” His sister-in-law’s sweet melodical voice came from the other end of the phone.

“Hey, where’s Duro?”

“Shower, he’s getting ready to head out for work, why what’s up?” Her voice sounded concerned now, worrying about why Agron would have been calling while on vacation.

“Would you do me a favor? Tell him we’re headed home earlier than we had planned on, we should be in later tonight, we’ll come get the kids if that’s alright with you.” He knew that he should explain more to her but it seemed illogical right now.

“Ah, so he told you about her huh?” Agron could tell that the woman was smiling over the phone as she spoke. “He’s pretty rattled Agron, I haven’t seen Duro like this in a long time, not since he told me about Isabella. I’m kind of worried about him to be honest.”

Agron knew that she hated to admit that, that it was hard for her to do and that his brother was probably losing it, just like she had said. “I’ll talk to him when I get home.”

“Talk, is this the version of talking where you get him drunk and then you bond or whatever the hell it is?” Kat knew their version of talking and while they did get their feelings out, she was never sure if either one remembered it the next morning.

“Kat, he’s in good hands, I swear. Tell him I said to take the day off, Ganni can handle it.” That much he was sure of and he knew that Duro could use the time off to spend with the kids as well. “And if he has a problem with that have him give me a call.”

“Ouch, you never tell him that unless you’re serious.” Kat cringed. “I’ll pass the message on. Have a safe trip home, we’ll see you tonight.”

“Love you Kat, thanks so much.”

“Love you too Aggie.” Kat laughed and he could hear Duro in the background shouting about how the kids were fine and to enjoy their vacation.

***

“Daddy!” Lea grinned running over to wrap his arms around Nasir’s leg looking up at him as she did. She would always be a daddy’s girl no matter what he did and he’d come to get used to that.

“Hey baby girl.” Nasir laughed scooping her within his arms. “Shouldn’t you be asleep?” His eyes drifted to Agron who was now holding onto Austen who was peacefully sleeping.


	5. Chapter 5

“Uncle Duro said I could stay up.” The little girl wrapped her arms around Nasir’s neck hugging him close once more.

“I told her she could stay up since you guys were going to be home.” Duro offered a smile as he looked at the little girl and then from Nasir to Agron. “She practically begged once she heard that you were going to be home.”

“It’s fine.” Agron’s voice was gentle as he watched the little girl in Nasir’s arms. She would sleep well the next day and since she didn’t have school, he wasn’t concerned about it. “Aery didn’t want to stay up?”

“She tried her hardest, poor things asleep on the couch. Ganni kidnapped Derrick, something about camping or something or other and Eva’s next door. One of the rare moments where Crixus is awake and the girls were taking full advantage of it when I last saw them.” Duro laughed and shook his head.

“He adores them though so it’s not a big thing.” Kat settled herself into one of the chairs in the kitchen room. “In fact he called to say he was keeping Eva for the night and if you had a problem with it, call.”

“Sounds good to me.” Nasir offered a shrug. He knew that the young girl was safe with him and that it would be good for her as well, it had been awhile since she had spent time alone with her girlfriends without Travis or Tristan in toe. “It’ll be good for the girls, and it’s not like they’ll be running under Crixus’ watchful eyes.”

“Why don’t you go play Lea.” Nasir leaned down pressing a kiss to the top of her head before settling her on the floor once more, smiling as the little girl went off to play with her cousins.

“What’s the matter?” Kat’s eyes drifted over Nasir, through many of their sessions together, she had learned what his facial expressions meant.

“Tell me about this little girl.” Nasir settled in at the table, his eyes turning up to look at Duro, offering a smile in passing as Kore floated through. He tried not to laugh as she attempted to take Austen from Agron but he insisted that he had him and that it was fine.

“She’s a sweet little thing, polite, and god is she cute.” Duro shook his head as he thought about it. “She’s about Aerlia’s height but a little bit smaller. The brightest blue eyes and blonde hair that shines in the sun, but her beauty is marred by bruises. She was playing with Aery and he sleeve rode up, it…it looked like someone had grabbed hold of her arm and squeezed just as hard as they could.”

Agron cringed at the thought,  how could anyone hurt a precious little girl like his own? It just didn’t seem possible.

Duro’s reaction told him all that he needed to know about the situation, though his words were strong, voice calm, his eyes drifted over the table, not looking at his older brother. “I called CPS, I-I hated to but judging by how she looks, I just couldn’t not do it.”

“It’s ok Duro.” Agron reached out setting his hand on his brother’s. “Nasir and I talked about it, we’re going to see about taking her in until they can find her somewhere to go.”

“Agron, I know you, fostering eventually leads to you adopting. You might as well just adopt her and be done with it.” Kat wrapped a playful arm around the man, looking down at her nephew. “You’ve always had a soft spot for the people who have been through hell and she’s in good hands with you.”

“Don’t rush it Kat, we don’t even know if we’ll get her, it’s possible that they wont actually foster her out.” Nasir sighed rubbing at his eyes. This was as tough for him as it was for Agron. He hated to see Agron this way and it bothered him. All he really wanted was to see him happy again.

“What’s her name?” Agron’s question was directed at Duro, that much was obvious.

“Emma.” The name was easy to speak, as if it had been one that he had used many times before.

“Emma.” Agron repeated it. Such a pretty name for what Duro had described as a very pretty girl.

***

“Agron.” Laeta’s voice was quiet as looked up at the man, a smile forming as she did. “I didn’t figure that it’d be long after Duro called before I saw you.”

Agron tried to hide the forming smile as he watched the woman. “Have I become that predictable?” He knew the answer but figured he aught to ask it anyways.

“Well, only when it comes to kids. I suppose that you’re here because of Emma?” Brushing her auburn curls from her face, the woman continued. “If that’s the case then you’ve certainly come to the right place, take a seat.”

Pulling out the chair across the desk from the woman, Agron slid his frame into it. “So what can you tell me? I’ve never seen Duro look the way he did last night, I, we want to give her a loving home even if it’s only until you can find a relative for her to live with.”

“Well, about that. Seems her parents left her with an Aunt and Uncle who are the issue and her parents have since died. She needs somewhere to go and I think you guys might be the perfect fit for her. Duro mentioned that Aerlia is a friend of Emma’s which would help when it comes to dealing with the stress of placing her in a new home.” Laeta paused as she looked at Agron. “She’s doing alright, seems to be in good spirits but it’s hard to say how long that will last. You and Nasir are sure about this?”

“Positive.” Agron offered a smile in return. “She’s welcome with us, just as Eva, Derrick and Aerlia were welcome with us.” They had known Laeta a many years, since they’d adopted Eva all those years ago. He was glad for it, she had never judged their relationship, never tried talking them out of adopting as so many others had.

“Alright, given your history with us I can get in touch with the school and let them know that you’ll be taking her from school. I know she’s in good hands, and as always, you may decide if you’re going to adopt her or if you’re just going to foster her long term.” Reaching across the table, Laeta set her hand upon his. “It amazes me what the two of you do. Thank you.” The words were gentle as she spoke them.

“No, thank you Laeta.”

“I hear that each of you has a child of your own now?” With business set aside, it was obvious that she was curious about their life.

“Yea, Lea’s going on 4 now and Austen is a year old.” Pulling a picture from his wallet he slid it to her. “That’s from Christmas but you can see how much they’ve all changed.”

“Nasir still taking care of things at home?” She eyed the picture for a few minutes before her eyes turned up to look at him. 


	6. Chapter 6

“No, actually I took over for him. He went back to work and I get to be Mr. mom. I enjoy it though, there are days when I’m not sure I can go another day but somehow I always do.” Agron found himself rambling and paused as he looked at Laeta. “Sorry, you don’t care, I….”

“Agron, you know better than that.” The woman offered a half laugh as she looked at him. “You’re a great person, don’t ever doubt that. I wont lie to you, Emma’s in pretty rough shape. She hates being touched, she’s afraid of people, she reminds me a lot of you the first time I met you.”

Agron hated to remember, it was a part of his life that he would rather have seen erased but he couldn’t and as such he had to live with it. “Maybe I can take care of that then.” The words were a whisper as he spoke. “Once she trusts me of course.”

“That might take a while. Then again if I recall right Aerlia adored you so you might have a fighting chance with that said.” Laeta could only nod as she watched him. He had come a long way since when he had first walked through the doors, Nasir in toe. They had insisted on adopting and she had smiled, nodded and taken them to see a few of the kids that she had files for. She’d never forget the look on their faces when they saw Eva, and how excited they were when they’d called to say they would in fact adopt her. “You can do this, don’t ever doubt that.”

“Thanks.” The word was quiet as he spoke it. He wasn’t sure that he believed her but he would try. For Emma, he would try as he had with Eva, perhaps he hadn’t done it right with her but he had learned and he could try again.

***

“Daddy!” Aerlia grinned and for once she didn’t complain when Agron scooped her up.

“Hey sweetie.” Agron’s eyes turned to look the other little girl that was with her. “Hi Emma, you’re going to come with us for awhile and if you like it then you can stay with us forever ok?”

Blue eyes turned to look up at him but instead of answering him, she only nodded, her eyes turning to look at her tiny hands once more.

“We can play with my dollies and the doggies and maybe sissy will take us to ride the horsy.” Aerlia began to bubble now seeming excited about the prospect of her friend coming to stay with them. “And daddy and daddy are nice, they’ll take care of you.”

Agron couldn’t help smiling at the words that his daughter spoke before he held out a hand to Emma. If she wanted to take it she could, if she didn’t, he understood. However, his smile only grew as Emma took hold of his hand, clinging to it in her own as if her life depended on it. “Come on then, I think Nasir was making cookies when I left.”

“Yay!” Aerlia grinned clinging to his neck before she looked down at Emma. “Daddy always makes the best cookies ever.”

“You have two daddies?” The tiny girl’s voice was hardly above a whisper, her eyes wide as she looked up at Aerlia.

“Uh huh. My mommy and daddy didn’t want me so they took me in and loved me.” Both Nasir and Agron had thought it best to be honest with the little girl about her past and from an early age at that. Neither one was afraid of how she would react and in fact she had taken it rather well when they’d told her. “It’s just like having a mommy and a daddy except that they’re both daddies.”

Listening to the way that Aerlia explained it to Emma. All of their kids were alright with their relationship; they had adjusted to Gannicus’ and had experienced Duro and Kat’s. There wasn’t anything that they weren’t used to yet and that made him glad. Opening the car door with his free hand, he let Aerlia crawl in before his eyes turned to look at Emma again. “My name is Agron, you don’t have to call me daddy, you’re going to be safe with us, I promise. You met my brother Duro before, he likes to visit.”

Laeta had told him about the bruises, the way that she acted and that worried him. However, she had also spoken of the way that his little brother had captivated the little girl. It was a comfort to him, perhaps together they could figure her out and get her to trust them.

Emma nodded her blonde little head in response, crawling up on the seat beside Aerlia. Helping them bother to buckle up, he closed the door before climbing in the front seat. “I hope you don’t mind other kids Emma, it’s always kind of busy around out house.”

“I always wanted a brother and sister.” Though her voice was still quiet the little girl spoke without being forced to, a fact that surprised Agron.

“Well, while you’re with us you will have both. There’s Eva, Derrick, Aerlia, Lea and Austen.”

“Austen’s just a baby though.” Aerlia could be so matter of fact when she wanted to, something that Agron was sure she had learned from Nasir over the years.

“He was walking again earlier today.” Agron was still having trouble believing that his little baby boy was up walking around already. What was he going to do? It seemed like just yesterday that sweet little Aerlia had been just toddling around the living room and now she was already in kindergarten and growing up so quickly.

***

“Hi Emma.” Derrick paused trying to figure out what he should do. It had been so different with Aerlia, Lea and Austen since they had been with them since they were babes. “I’m Derrick.”

The little girl’s eyes turned up from where she was sitting on her bed in the room that she now shared with Aerlia. He had surprised her and he hadn’t meant to but he had just gotten home and thought it best to introduce himself. “Hello.” Her voice was quiet, her eyes watching him closely as if she was unsure of what he might do.

So far she liked Lea and Eva had been nice to her, offering to share her candy bar with the tiny girl in attempts to make her feel more at home. Austen was adorable as he attempted to toddle around the house, but Derrick she wasn’t sure about just yet. 


	7. Chapter 7

“My room is upstairs if you need me, it’s next to Eva’s.” He didn’t want to press, if she wasn’t ready then he understood. “I’ll um….let you get unpacked and settled.”

“I don’t have anything to unpack.” The little girl’s voice was hoarse as she spoke, eyes turning to the floor as she looked at her tiny little hands. Her living conditions hadn’t been very acceptable and her belongings were few to begin with but Laeta had spoken of the horrible conditions she had lived in. As such Agron had insisted upon taking the little girl shopping the next day for clothes and such. He didn’t care that she might not be with them forever, while she was she would enjoy herself and she wouldn’t live her life out like they had wished her to.

“Nothing at all?” Derrick was surprised and almost horrified. How could she not have any possessions at all? Surely she must have something that she could call her own.

“No.” Tears began to form in the little girl’s eyes, though she still didn’t look up at Derrick, afraid that he might be upset with her now.

“Hey, it’s ok.” Derrick moved into the room, sitting beside her on the bed. “I promise, soon you’ll have everything you could ask for and so much more.” The words were quiet as he spoke, carefully wrapping an arm around her, though he didn’t hold her close. “If you want, I know where dad keeps the cookies.” He hoped that maybe the promise would make her feel better.

At the sound her ears perked and she couldn’t help smiling as she looked up at him, though tears still streaked her tiny little face.

“Well come on then.” Getting up off the bed, he held his hand out to her, letting her take hold of her before he led her into the kitchen taking a couple of cookies from the jar and holding one out to her. “Have you met Aries and Duke yet?” He knew that she had met Layla because the dog met everyone who walked through the door no matter who they were.

“No, Eva said that Duke was in the backyard because he was big and scary.” Nibbling at her cookie Emma looked up at him. “And I know she said that Aries was in the house but I haven’t run into him yet.”

“Duke isn’t scary, he’s just big and he likes to jump and play with new people so he might knock you down and he might be scary. Really though all he wants to do is play. Maybe later on we can go out in the background and play with him for a little while.” Derrick knew that the dog could be intimidating but he didn’t want her to be upset, he wanted her to love the dog as everyone else did.

“Maybe.” Her words were quiet as she looked up at him her lips pressing together as she finished the cookie off. She could hear Nasir and Agron talking in the living room, Aerlia was settled in on Agron’s lap, Lea on Nasir’s and yet Emma couldn’t help feeling left out.

While the two men had suspected such, they didn’t want to push her any further. If she was ready, she would come and join them. Yet they could both hear what was going on in the kitchen and were glad to hear that Derrick was trying to help.

Agron couldn’t imagine what it had been like for the poor little girl, yet Derrick had been through hell. Having lost his mother to a disease at a young age and his father many years later, the little boy had suffered through a lot. Yet the little boy had never complained and he had certainly never questioned why thing happened to him. In fact instead of worrying about himself, he was often times more concerned about his sisters than he was himself.

“Daddy?” Aerlia’s little voice brought him out of his thoughts. Her little face turned to look up at him as she settled against his chest still looking up at him.

“Yea?” Agron offered a smile as he looked at her trying to understand what she might be about to ask, though he assumed that it probably had something to do with Emma.

“Why doesn’t Emma want to come watch cartoons?” The little girls face looked sad, perhaps even hurt as she looked up at him. She didn’t understand why the other girl didn’t want to be a part of the family and she looked to Agron for an explanation.

How was he supposed to find the words to tell her that Emma had been beaten, that she didn’t trust them, that it would take a long time before the little one felt as though she was a part of the family.

“Well…” Agron paused thinking about it before he spoke up. “She’s been through a lot sweetie. It’ll take her a couple of days to get used to everyone and settle in.” He was about to continue when the little girl came in following after Derrick, though she seemed unsure about everyone in the room, she had at least come out of her room.

“Emma,” Aerlia’s voice was quiet as she looked upon her friend and possible sister. “would you like to come sits with me and daddy?” She was trying so hard and Agron felt bad for her, the happiness in her face would turn to sadness, breaking his heart.

Emma paused, blue eyes falling upon the pair, her lips pressing against one another as she eyed them. She quietly shook her head before she spoke. “I-I don’t want to interrupt. You look comfortable.”

“There’s room.” Aerlia slid over in Agron’s lap to make room for the other little girl, all she wanted was for her to feel included, to feel as though she too was loved, if only for the first time in her life. “Daddy is a big man, there’s always room in his lap.”

The words made Agron chuckle even though he knew he shouldn’t. Yet out of the mouths of babes he supposed, this was one of many times she was outwardly blunt and compared to Nasir he was a much bigger man.

“I-I….” Emma began to stammer as she looked upon them again.

“It’s alright Emma, I promise, I wont bite. I can’t promise Aerlia wont though.” The words were playful as Agron spoke them, he was trying to make light of the subject though he knew how hard that was going to be for her.

“I guess so.” Carefully she climbed up beside Agron on the chair seeming hesitant to move any closer. Though he would allow that, he wondered what she would do if he wrapped an arm around her, though he did not attempt such.  

“Do you like My Little Pony Emma?” Nasir still couldn’t believe that his life had been reduced to afternoons spent with his kids curled up watching cartoons, but the truth of the matter was that he wouldn’t have changed it no matter what.

The little girl bobbed her head, seeming confused as Aerlia hopped down off of Agron’s lap and went racing from the room. She appeared ready to cry until her friend returned with a pair of ponies holding one out to Emma. “You can play with Fluttershy, she’s my favorite.”

Agron had to resist the laughter that bubbled within because he was afraid of upsetting Emma. Though it was true that the pony was Aerlia’s favorite, she reminded Agron of Emma most. The creature was timid, soft spoken and kind hearted, though he had only seen her for a short period of time, they all seemed to explain little Emma.

“Ok.” The little blonde flinched as Agron moved a hand to rub at his eye and he suddenly felt bad for her, sure that she had expected him to hit her. His heart broke knowing what that fear had been like as a kid and he wanted so badly to erase that fear from her. To allow her to be a child that no longer had to deal with such. His eyes drifted up to meet Nasir’s and as if he knew what he was thinking, Nasir offered a nod in return. It was beginning to look like the little girl wasn’t going anywhere.


	8. Chapter 8

***

“Dad!” Eva’s cry from the bottom of the steps brought Nasir, eyebrows raised as he looked at her.

“What?” The question seemed as though he shouldn’t need to ask it since his facial expressions should have given his confusion away.

“Trav and I are taking Emma and Aerlia out to the barn with us.” Eva stood looking up at him. He knew that Saxa and Sibyl were both there and wasn’t concerned about the young girls under their sister’s care.

“Alright, keep an eye on them and make sure that they stay out of trouble. I’ve got Lea, we’re going out to a movie with Derrick and your dad took Austen to uncle Duro’s.” Nasir nodded as he looked at the young woman.

Nasir was trying to figure out what had prompted Eva to offer. Aerlia often accompanied the pair to the barn and maybe she was just trying to make Emma feel welcome but it still surprised him. It had been nearly three weeks since Emma had come to stay with them and she was finally beginning to settle in with them.  “And I would like to speak with Emma before you leave, if that is alright of course.”

Eva merely nodded turning away from the stairs headed to put her shoes on. The creak of the stairs indicated that Nasir was headed down them and then there was the sound of the pitter patter of his feet against the carpet on the floor.

“Emma?” His voice was quiet as he spoke, leaning against the doorway of the room she and Aerlia shared. He and Agron had spoken, and they were both convinced that if she wanted it, she belonged here with them. However, he would not allow her to stay if she didn’t want to.

“Yes?” Her head turned up to look at Nasir as he arrived. She was still rather quiet but she was doing better than she arrived back here with them. He wouldn’t forget the first time that Agron had brought the scared, broken little girl into the house and Nasir had already pretty much decided that Agron wished to keep her, even if he hadn’t already said so.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.” Slipping into the bedroom, he sat beside her on the bed. “Agron and I have been talking and we wanted to know, would you be interested in staying here? With us I mean. Forever.” The word was added in order to make her understand, that this was up to her and that if she wanted to, she’d never have to leave again.

Emma looked surprised as she looked up at him though, as if she expected it to be a joke, or for the offer to be taken back. She enjoyed their company and as such she certainly wasn’t upset about staying here but she still didn’t believe it. “Until you get tired of me.” The little girl’s voice was quiet as she spoke, as if not believing him when he said forever.

“We wont get tired of you.” Nasir’s voice was gentle as he wrapped an arm around the little girl, pulling her close. “We’ve had Eva a very long time now and we still haven’t gotten tired of her, nor Derrick or even Aerlia. If you choose to stay, you are more than welcome to, and you will always be safe here. You don’t have to call us dad, nothing changes, except that you’re here to stay forever.”

“I-I would like to stay then.” Her voice was quiet as she spoke, eyes looking up at him. She had never really known love, yet within the past few weeks, here with Agron and Nasir, she finally knew love. It was a new feeling and she was beginning to enjoy it, though she wasn’t sure that she wanted to for fear that they might change their minds.

“Good, then it’s settled.” Gently Nasir leaned down pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Now go on and join Eva, she promised to take you and Aerlia to see the horses. Her horses, and Saxa and Sibyl will be there.” He hoped that the words would ease her mind, she had met them both one night when they’d stopped in to visit with Gannicus. It seemed now that Sibyl was off living on her own, things had gotten easier and the feuding between the two of them had been put aside.

Emma nodded slipping on her sandals before she hopped off the bed and started for the door. She truly was excited, first she had found a place that she could finally call her own and now Eva wanted to take her to see horses?

“You ready?” Eva offered a warm smile as she looked at the little girl. Normally she would refer to her as her sister but yet she didn’t know how Emma would feel about that and didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.

“Uh huh.”

Nasir simply shook his head watching the three of them leave. Lea was curled up in the living room probably still taking a nap and Derrick was upstairs trying to finish up homework while she slept so that they could enjoy the rest of the day. Grabbing his phone from the kitchen counter he set to work composing a message to Agron. It simply said “What would you do if I told you she didn’t want to stay?” Perhaps it was a little cruel but Agron had done much worse to him over the years and he was sure that the man could take this.

A chuckle slipped between his lips as he got a response, all it said was “Duro says you damn well better be joking.” Leave it to the brothers to over react he supposed shaking his head. They were quite the pair, often times a little hot tempered but if they felt strongly about it the world was going to know about it, that much was sure. Yet it was also interesting to see how it worked when it came to one of the kids, they certainly never laid down and played dead then.

 Picking up the phone again he dialed Agron’s number before pressing it to his ear.

“What do you mean she decided she doesn’t want to stay?” Agron’s voice sounded elevated as he spoke, concern in his voice. He had wanted only to make the little girl feel loved, to make her see that she was better than what she had experienced, had he done something wrong?

“Easy Agron, I’m giving you a hard time.” Nasir attempted to soothe the man’s pride, suddenly feeling bad about giving him a hard time. “She said she would like to stay here with us, at least until we decided that we didn’t want her anymore.”

“Oh Nasir.” The words were a whimper as he spoke. He couldn’t imagine what would ever make her think that they could ever not love her anymore. “D-did….you…”

“ I told her that it would never happen, she’s with Eva, Travis and Aerlia, they were headed out to the stable to see the horses which seemed to make her day.” Nasir’s voice was gentle, the little girl’s happiness had shown on her face and it made him feel better about how she was doing.

“Well that should help her to adjust some. Emma is a very special little girl who deserves better than what she’s been through.” Agron sighed and Nasir was sure that he shook his head.

“I know Aggie, I know.” Nasir knew where his lover was coming from and he couldn’t help feeling like he wished there was something that he could do. “But she’s here with us now, she’s safe, and going to be loved, there’s nothing more that we could ask for.” His voice was quiet as he spoke. He knew that the brothers had been through hell as children because of their father and he would do anything to make the memories go away.

Yet he also knew that Agron and Duro both wouldn’t be the men that they were today if it hadn’t been for what they had gone through as children. The same would eventually be said about Eva and even Emma but it would be hard to explain that to them right now, they were too young to understand it.

“You still going out later with the kiddos?” Agron’s voice was much calmer than it had been originally when Nasir had called, making Nasir feel a little better.

“Yea, I’m waiting on Lea to wake up and then we’re heading to see a movie and maybe to the park or for ice cream or something. Eva has our numbers in case she gets home after I leave with the girls. Not that I don’t think she can handle the two of them or anything but just in case she needs help or something. She’ll probably get in touch with you first.” Nasir trusted the girl more than anything but sometimes he wondered if she didn’t pretend to be strong for them rather than because she wanted to.

“She’ll be fine Nasir.” Agron laughed gently at the man’s worry, he could be such a worrier when it came to the kids but in truth they would be just fine.

Nasir heard Duro mutter something in German which was followed by Kat’s laughter. “I wont even bother asking what he just said.”

“He’s being a smart ass, basically it amounts to him wanting to know if we could possibly be any cuter.” Agron laughed, he was used to his brother’s playful jibes and none more playful than those directed at he and Nasir.

“Somehow I think a few words were lost in translation.” The words were playful as he spoke. While both of the brothers could be very crass in the way that they spoke, it was rare that they did so in front of the kids, and if they did it certainly wasn’t in English.

***

“Evs?” Agron slipped in the front door setting Austen on the floor once more as he pushed the door shut.  He could hear the clanking of dishes in the kitchen and figured the older girl was taking care of them.

“Yea dad?”

“Just wondered where you were.” Starting for the kitchen, he couldn’t help smiling as his eyes drifted over the dishes in the sink. “You girls were into the ice cream huh?” He was teasing; the girls hadn’t done anything that would get them in trouble after all.

“Yea, Emma and Aery were complaining that they were hot and they were really good at the barn so I thought a treat was in order. They’re in the backyard playing right now so obviously it’s not as hot out as they said that it was.” She offered a smile as she looked at her father; it was obvious she had acquired his sarcastic nature over the years.

“It is rather warm.” Agron nodded glad for the air conditioning right now. This time of year it was unbearable sometimes but central air made it at least livable. “How long have they been out there?”

“About a half an hour or so.” Eva’s eyes drifted over the man. She understood his fear, that in the heat one of the tiny girls might become over heated or even worse, something that he wouldn’t risk.

Agron nodded, padding over to the backdoor before he pulled it open. “Emma, Aery, why don’t you guys come in for awhile?” His eyes turned to Eva who was already getting out glasses from the cupboard to fill for the young girls. “Why don’t you call Kai and see if she wants to do something?”

“I called earlier but Uncle Gannicus said he hadn’t seen her this morning. He thought she left with Tristan earlier this morning but Aunt Saxa says that she went to see Amelia, so I don’t really know where she is.” Her voice was quiet as she spoke as if she was hurt by something. “I tried to call her but there was no answer.”

“I’m sure she’ll call you back later Eva, you’re one of her best friends after all.” Agron patted her shoulder as the two young girls came scurrying in the back door.  Both of their little cheeks were rosy from running around, hair matted to their heads from sweat.

“You called?” Emma panted trying to catch her breath as she stood there looking up at him, blue eyes wide in excitement. It was a look that made Agron smile, the happiness shown in her face as she looked up at him.

“Yea, how about you get a drink and play inside for awhile till it cools off some outside.” His laughed slipped between his lips as both girl’s pouted looking up at him. “I know, I know, I’m mean but eventually you’ll understand why I do it, just ask Eva.”

“Was daddy ever mean to you?” It was Aerlia that spoke as she looked at her big sister, awaiting her answer.

“I used to think that he was being mean, but now I understand that it wasn’t mean, he was just looking out for me and what was best for me.” Eva smiled holding a glass of water out to each of the little girls. “Now, he’s right, you should play inside for awhile. I’ll let Duke in if Emma is ok with that but otherwise you can find something to do.”

Emma only nodded taking the cup from her, taking a sip from it. The bruises on her arms had finally healed over and faded, the blank expression on her face when she had arrived was finally gone and was instead replaced with a bright eyed, smiley little girl. “Duke can come in, he’s not scary no more.” The tiny girl’s smile could brighten anyone’s day.

“Aries is in on the couch taking a nap.” Agron’s words were gentle a smile forming as he did. The dog had taken to Emma very quickly though she had been leery at first about him.

“Ok.” The little girl turned, cup in hand heading for the living room in order to go play with the dog. Though he truly was Eva’s dog, it seemed that Emma had taken to him just as much.

“So how’s Spitfire and Ariel doing?” Agron’s eyes drifted from one little girl to the other. He knew that Eva took amazing care of them and that Aerlia adored the horses.

“They’re good. Diablo’s finally starting to settle down a little and he’s put weight back on. Sibyl’s impressed with how far he’s come since we got him and I really am glad that we could give him a good home.”

“Me too.” Aerlia grinned dropping her cup in the sink. “He might be a big horsey but he’s not also very sweet, even if he does like to run too fast.” A giggle slipped through the little girl’s lips, this wasn’t the first time that Eva had taken her and Emma for a ride on the two horses. Travis was finally doing better with horses and that brought the opportunity to take them both at once, which the girls seemed to like.

Agron watched her bound off after Emma shaking his head before his eyes turned to Eva. “They were good?”

Eva was about to answer when the phone rang causing Agron to jump before he picked it up. “Hello?”

“Aggie.” The man on the other end of the phone caused a smile to curl at his lips as he pressed it to his ear.

“Hey Donar, what’s up?” Agron had been friends with the man for many years, long before he even knew that he had married Chadara or that Nasir knew him. Over the years he had gotten into trouble with his German brother, as had Duro and Gannicus, yet it was odd for him to call.

“Eva mention why Trav kind of looks like he had a fight with something much bigger than him?” Donar’s laughter eased Agron’s mind but he still didn’t know what was going on and that made him worry.

“No, I just got home a few minutes ago actually but she’s standing right here so I could ask her if you would like.” His eyes fell upon Eva who was grinning sheepishly.

“Oh, no I have his version of the events but I just wondered if she mentioned it to you or not. Figured the kid is probably hiding details from me cause I’m just the old man. You know, the same way we were as kids.” Donar knew of Agron’s past, knew what had happened to his parents and yet Agron had over time had many people who attempted to act as his parents after their death. Yet Agron had been insistent about taking care of Duro on his own and about saying that they didn’t need anyone else.

Agron shook his head at the thought alone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He chuckled, knowing exactly what he meant by the statement. Perhaps they had thrown some pretty wild parties in college, with Gannicus at the root of course but they had always managed to stay out of trouble. They would have all taken the fall to keep the rest from trouble but it never came to that.

“Yea, well, Travis swears that he had a fight with a stall door but I’m pretty sure that it was something a little bigger. Gods Aggie, what happened to us? We went from wild frat boys to responsible parents, even Gannicus settled down and now our kids are starting to give us the same headaches that we gave people when we were kids.” Donar laughed. “Mira called the other night, she wants to have a get together of some kind. I think she’s right, it’d be good to have everyone back together again, we don’t get to see each other enough and I know it sounds nuts but…well…we’re all so busy that we feel like we don’t have time to reach out and call each other.”

“Agreed. We should put something together. I mean it’s not like our kids aren’t all intertwined by this point.” Agron could only laugh as he spoke. It was true, they were all busy but it would be good for them and their kids. “Has anyone heard from Oenomaus lately?” The man had been like a mentor to him and he often thought about him, yet didn’t know how to get in touch.

“Mmmmm I haven’t, not since he and Gannicus had their falling out over Melitta.” It had been a rough time for both of them and when Gannicus had won the woman’s heart it had gotten brutal between the two of them. Both Agron and Duro had taken it hard when Oenomaus had disappeared, yet they had survived, just as they had when their parents had died.

“Yea, me either.” Agron allowed a sigh to slip between his lips. “I guess all I can hope is that he’s alright.” He attempted to push aside the thoughts that clouded his mind now, the fear that perhaps something had happened to the man. Yet the one thing he feared more was that the silence from the man meant that perhaps he and Duro had never meant that much to him and that they had seen him as more then they ever should have.

***

“Mira!” Agron laughed wrapping his arms around her. When he’d talked to Donar the week before, he’d decided that both he and Mira were right, it was time to get together again and he’d decided to get everyone together again. So in the mean time he’d called Mira and Spartacus, Duro and Kat, Gannicus, Saxa and Sibyl, Donar and Chadara and even Naevia and Crixus to suggest a get together. They had all gladly accepted and as such they’d decided on a picnic at the beach. That way the kids could play at the park or in the sand while the adults caught up.

“Hey!” The woman giggled happily as she wrapped her arms around Agron’s neck peeking over his shoulder at Emma who was settled in on Nasir’s lap seeming afraid of the new people whom she hadn’t met yet. “Oh, who’s the little one?”

“That’s Emma. She’s the newest addition to our family. You’ve met Eva, Derrick’s the one with Gannicus’ boy, Aerlia is trying to climb Duro’s leg because he promised her a candy bar and then told her no, Lea is playing with Faith and Karlee and this little guy is Austen.” He laughed adjusting the little boy on his hip, smiling as he giggled looking up at the woman.

“Wow, you’ve certainly got your hands full don’t you?” Spartacus shook his head as he listened to the explanation of which child was which. He had always known that Agron and Nasir would eventually end up with kids but this was certainly more than he had figured. “And this little guy has to be yours, he looks just like you.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Poor kid.” Agron laughed, his eyes drifting to the little boy who was playing shy against his shoulder. “But yes, Austen is mine…well mine and Saxa’s but…” His voice drifted off knowing that it sounded strange.

“I understand.” Spartacus offered a smile clapping a hand against Agron’s shoulder. “And what a little doll Emma is.”

His words caused Agron to turn to look at the little girl who was curled within Nasir’s lap in the sand watching the other kids play. Despite Nasir’s comforting words the little girl still refused to leave him.

“Excuse me but that’s my little doll.” Duro grinned as he strode over, having finally gotten rid of Aerlia who had been clinging to his leg. “Oh and Aerlia is loaded up on sugar. You’re welcome.” The two brothers had always been close and Duro was well aware that he shouldn’t spoil the child but none the less he did anyways. He would with any of the kids but especially Aerlia. He had always felt bad for the little girl since she was so liable to get sick over time.

“Geee what would I do without you Duro.” The sarcasm dripped from his voice as his brother grinned scooping up the little girl from Nasir’s lap holding her close.

Emma loved Duro, most kids did and the little girl giggled clinging to his neck as he moved once more to his brother’s side. “These are friends of Agron and mine Emma, they are very nice people there’s nothing to be afraid of. This is Spartacus and Mira, they’re very nice people.”

“Hi Emma.” Mira offered a smile as she looked at her. “I’ve always wanted a little girl, someone like you.”

Emma shyly looked at the woman but hearing her words she buried her face in Duro’s shoulder once more clinging to his neck.

“Hey, it’s ok. She doesn’t mean that she’d take you.” Duro smiled looking down at the tiny girl. “I wouldn’t let that happen to you, you’re staying here with us. She just meant that she hopes that her little girl is like you.”

“You’re a very pretty girl.” Spartacus offered a smile as he looked up on the little girl.

“Thank you.” Her voice was hoarse as she looked up at the other man trying her hardest to be brave. She didn’t really like new people just yet but they were friends of Agron and Duro and she trusted them, these people certainly couldn’t want to hurt her if that was the case, could they?

“How’s Kat doing?” Mira offered a smile eyes casting in the direction of where the woman was playing in the water with Anne Marie and Naevia. She looked happy enough and had finally finished dropping the weight from the twins meaning she felt comfortable in a bathing suit again but it was hard to tell what was really behind the happiness.

“ She’s working a lot of hours, she doesn’t get to spend as much time as she’d like to with the kids and all but she enjoys what she does.” Duro couldn’t help but smile as he spoke. “Clinic’s doing well and between her and Crixus, it’s tough but they see as many patients as they can.”  Setting the Emma on the ground he scooped Faith up as she came running.

For being born prematurely, the young girl had progressed well and was almost caught up to other girls her age. However, she was still tiny for her age; she had always been the smaller of the girls. “Daddy.” The little girl whimpered burying her face in his shoulder.

“What’s the matter?” He adjusted her up onto his hip turning away from the others to take care of the tiny girl within his arms.

“Scary bird.” She whined looking up at him, tears slipping down her cheeks as she did. She tried to peek over his shoulder at the bird that she was talking about but instead he turned around, a laugh rumbling through his chest as he saw what she was talking about.

“That’s a seagull Faith.” His voice was gentle as he spoke, not wanting to make her feel stupid about what had happened. “If you don’t hurt it, it wont bother you.”

“But it’s big and scary.” She whined as she looked up at him, she never argued with Duro, not ever. Yet this time she was choosing to do so, out of both fear and disbelief of why he was trying to tell her this.

“It wont hurt you baby girl, have I ever lied to you before?”

“No daddy.” Faith’s little eyes peeked at the bird as it flew overhead before they returned to Duro who was standing with her in his arms.

“Alright then, it certainly wont hurt you. Now why don’t you go and play with your mommy and your sister, huh?” Duro grinned before setting her down on the ground.

“Too Adorable.” Agron jibed from where he had settled down in the sand beside Nasir once more. His younger brother deserved it and he wasn’t afraid to give it to him as such.

Crixus couldn’t help but snicker from where he was laying under the umbrella that Naevia had insisted that they needed in order to keep cool but the breeze off the lake told another story. “Yous two are worse than an old married couple.”

“They’ve always been worse than a married couple.” Donar chimed in, allowing one of the kids to crawl up in his lap. “We always knew that they were going to be like this.”

“And somehow with age it’s only gotten worse. Gods I thought that Duro was going to move into our dorm for awhile.” Gannicus rolled his eyes at the thought. “I’d have had to move out if that was the case though cause listening to this all the time would have driven me bloody well nuts I’m sure.”

“Because you’re completely sane now?” Spartacus rolled his eyes, hand moving to shade his eyes as he eyed the other men. “I mean that in the nicest way of course.”

“Nah, I’ve always been a little off, just ask Agron.” Gannicus grinned like the Cheshire cat as he looked at the other man.

“No, no he’s not at all sane. In fact he’s very mad.” He laughed as he looked to the other men. “Ask him about the strippers he brought home one night.”

“Strippers?” Gannicus’ brow furrowed as he thought about it. “That’s one night I don’t remember. Was I drunk? Was I drunker than normal I guess I should say.”

“No, I wouldn’t say that you were much drunker than you usually were. Then again how could one tell? There were nights where you were so drunk that I still don’t know how you managed to stay standing.” Agron laughed shaking his head as he remembered the many nights the man had stumbled in.

“Or the nights you stumbled into my room.” Duro laughed shaking his head. “I’d tell you that you were in the wrong room and all you’d say was that a German was a German and you curled up on the floor to sleep.”

“And the nights that you swore that you’d stay out of the dorm so that Agron and I were alone and then in the middle of some, uh, intimate time you’d stumble in and tell me to get out.” Nasir rolled his eyes. “Normally with some woman attached to your arm. I never did figure out where you picked them up at but you always seemed to find one when you needed one.”

“I never found them, they always found me.” Gannicus shrugged. “But that is behind me now, I am happy right where I belong.”

“As am I.” Duro laughed. He’d never regret having taken that stupid psychology class that he’d never have used in his life. After all that was where he had met Kat, where they had decided that they were really interested in one another.

“Me too.” Nasir grinned settling into Agron’s arms, who let out a contented sigh of agreement. “I think he’s saying him too.”

“Hey I didn’t have a plan in college but I cant say that I mind where my life ended up.” Donar laughed and Spartacus agreed. They had roomed together for a long time and anyone who knew them knew that they had both merely been floating through trying to figure out where their lives had been headed.

“I ran away from life, figured that maybe if I got out then everything would be alright again but you know what?” Crixus allowed a sigh to slip between his lips as he looked at them all. “I found out that the one place that I really wanted to be was here. So after I met Naevia and she expressed a desire to return home, well it seemed only natural to come home I guess. I just never figured that I’d be coming home to live next door to the guy who almost married my wife.”

“Well, that wasn’t exactly planned out or anything.” Duro chuckled, his eyes falling on Agron for a moment wondering what he was thinking and yet as he eyed his brother the answers didn’t come. “But it wasn’t until you saved my life that I decided that you were a pretty ok guy and we could be friendly neighbors.” Duro’s laughter was something that always made everyone else smile as well.

Across the beach though the women were having a completely different conversation.

“So, what do you think we need to pull this off?” Mira grinned her eyes dancing as she looked from Kat to Saxa and then to Sibyl before finally settling upon Chadara and Naevia.

“Well,” Kat had settled in at the edge of the water with Faith in her lap, the waves lapping at her feet as though they were attempting to pull her into the lake to join them once more. “Let’s see here, we really should mention it to Nasir and Agron but I’m pretty sure that if we were to have a surprise party for Eva they wouldn’t mind at all.”

“Right.” Naevia settled in beside her, leaning back so that her weight was resting upon the palms of her hands, allowing the sun to shine down upon her face. It was something that she so rarely got to experience while at work and it was a welcome thing.

“Nasir loves surprises, Agron has always hated them but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do it of course.” Chadara laughed as she looked at the other women. “So, what are you thinking? I’m sure that Travis will help us if we asked him to.” She knew that her son was madly in love with Eva and he would do anything for her, no matter what anyone asked of him, if it would make the girl smile then Travis would do it and he certainly never complained.

“I’m thinking the poor girl deserves some fun after all of the hell that she’s been through.” Sibyl shook her head; it killed her to think about what had really happened to the young girl.

“And of course we can find some way to distract her at the barn.” Saxa grinned as she eyed the other women. “So now we must decide, what are we doing and how are we going to do it.”

“What about if we were to do something here at the lake house?” Kat asked, she knew that the girl loved being here and she wondered if that would make her feel better and change her mind as she insisted upon not wanting a party.

The other woman paused before they nodded looking from one to another and they all nodded. “Yes, this sounds like good idea.” Saxa finally added as they continued to work out the details.

“Hey Emma.” Kat offered a smile as the little girl settled in beside her in the sand.

Emma shyly looked at Mira and Chadara before she answered Kat. “Hello.” Her voice was quiet, something that surprised even Kat. The little girl had become so bold and vibrant and happy under Agron and Nasir’s watchful eye and this regression of sorts bothered her. Though all she could assume was that perhaps, the little girl was still adjusting to her new surroundings. After all it hadn’t been very long since they had taken her in and even less time since they had adopted her, she was sure that it was a lot for the little girl to handle and Kat wished that she could ease the stress.

***

“Your brother called.” Nasir grumbled as he rolled over to look at Agron. He’d been asleep while Agron was in the shower when his brother-in-law had called. Nasir had been a little gruffer than he’d wanted to.

“Oh yea? What did he need?” Agron was just pulling his shirt on before he turned to look at the man. It was odd for Duro to call this early in the morning, and he couldn’t help the worry that was beginning to build now.

“He didn’t say, he just asked that I have you call him when you got out of the shower.” Nasir pushed himself so that he was sitting up on the end of the bed.

Reaching for the nightstand Agron picked the phone up, dialing it he pressed the phone to his ear waiting on his brother to answer.

“Hey Aggie.” Duro’s voice told him that there wasn’t something wrong, a thought that eased his worry but he still didn’t understand why the man had called him. “I was calling to see if you and Nasir and the munchkins wanted to join us for dinner tonight.”

“And you couldn’t ask Nasir?” Agron was confused; it wasn’t like Duro to ask a question like this and not ask Nasir.

“Well, I didn’t want to insult him or anything. I know how he feels about cooking and I just figured that maybe it was better to ask you.” Duro sighed. He adored his brother but sometimes he was a little dense and this seemed to be one of them.

“O-oh.” Now Agron felt dumb, his eyes turned to Nasir, adjusting the phone to speak with him. “Duro wants to know if we would like to join them for dinner tonight with the young ones.”

“Yea, it’d be nice not to have to cook for once.” Nasir grinned, hand becoming entangled within his knotted ebony hair as he tried to run it through it.

“Was that a yes I heard?” Kat’s bubbly voice was easy to hear on the other end of the phone, making Agron laugh.

“Geee you didn’t tell me that you had me on speaker phone, here I could be bearing my soul to you Bruder.” Agron was playful in his words as he spoke attempting to make Duro feel bad.

“Well Kat wants to talk to you, and she wanted to hear your answer.” Duro rolled his eyes at his brother’s reaction.

“What’s up Kitty Kat?”

“Only I get to call her that.” Duro chastised letting a sigh out before handing the phone over to Kat. “I swear to you Agron, if you’re a pain in the ass, I will kick your ass.”

“So what’s up Kat?” Agron leaned back against the bed, trying to ignore the fact that Nasir was rubbing his hand up the bottom of his t-shirt, fingers running through the coarse hair that lay beneath.

“Well, I wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t cause an issue if Mira, Saxa, Sibyl, Naevia, Chadara and I decided to throw Eva a surprise party for her sixteenth. I know that it’s a big day and I know that you guys probably want to do something for her and…”

“Kat.” Agron laughed cutting her off he understood her concern but she was beginning to ramble and he wanted her to understand. Playfully he swatted at Nasir’s hand trying to get him to stop. In truth he was beginning to have trouble thinking straight. “It’s fine, honest. You’re family, hell you’re all family by now and I’m glad that you guys want to do something for her. Of course you can do something for her.”

“A-are you sure?” Kat seemed surprised by the statement.

“Positive.”

“Sweet. I’ll see you tonight then!” Kat sounded more excited now though Agron wondered if that was possible.

Adjusting beneath Nasir’s hand, Agron swatted again his eyes meeting Nasir’s trying to will him to stop. “Yea Kat, I’ll see you tonight.” He knew that his excitement had to be obvious to Nasir and he was fairly sure that Kat could at least assume what was going on.

Hearing the click on the other end Agron dropped the phone back on the nightstand before his eyes turned to look at Nasir again. “Don’t you think maybe it’s a little rude to get someone excited knowing that you cant follow through with it?”

“Sorry.” Nasir grinned as he looked at the bigger man laughing as he did. Of course he had known exactly what he was doing but he couldn’t help doing so. There was something about Agron so perfectly stretched out before him that always made him want to touch and tease, no matter if he could follow through or not.

“Uh huh. Right.” Agron rolled his eyes pushing himself up to sit up once more.

“So how come your brother didn’t just ask me if we wanted to come to dinner? Why must it be such a state secret?” Nasir wasn’t sure what to think. He wasn’t used to Duro avoiding him with questions and that worried him.

“He was afraid that he might offend you because he knows that you love cooking and he didn’t want you to feel put out or anything.” Agron shrugged. He knew that his brother could be a little strange sometimes but he always meant the best when he did things.

***

“Come in!” Kat grinned pulling the door open, a smile forming upon her lips as she stepped out of the way. “Forgive me, the house is a little out of place. Faith has been a little terror today and it seems like no matter what I clean, she goes behind me and uncleans it.”

“You’ve seen our house.” Nasir laughed, eyes falling upon the other woman. “And it’s even worse now that we’re trying to get everyone off to their extra curriculars and such.”

“Karlee is pretty good, she wants to help me whenever I try to clean or whatever it is that I’m doing. She loves to help Duro out in the kitchen and with the dishes. Faith on the other hand, she insists that things are better off her way and she will do them that way.” Kat laughed as she shut the door, scooping her nephew from Agron’s arms. She wished that they had a boy of their own but because she didn’t, she would settle for spending time with her nephew.

“Arent you missing a couple of kids?” Duro leaned into the entry way heading into the kitchen offering a smile as he looked up on his brother and his lover.

“Yea, Eva went over to Travis’ for the evening and then Derrick is at Gannicus’. “ Agron shook his head, his kids were growing up too fast, he really didn’t know what to do.

“Figures, I spend all day slaving away over a wonderful turkey dinner and they decide that they’re going to go out to friend’s houses. Kids these days they just don’t appreciate their elders anymore.” The words were playful as he spoke grinning as he looked at his brother. He was glad that the kids had adjusted so well to their lives and he didn’t know what he would have done if he’d had to listen to Agron worry for one more day about how worried he had truly been about the children.

“Figures.” Nasir shrugged. “You make your brother’s favorite, I guess I should have figured when you called. You don’t know how many times I’ve heard ‘You don’t make it like Duro does’ or ‘ I wish Duro would make’” Nasir rolled his eyes in sarcasm. He knew that Agron meant no harm and that the brothers had been close growing up and as such they still had moments where they didn’t adjust back to life without one another around all the time.

Duro simply shook his head, adjusting Faith on his hip as Karlee went racing for the living room. “Uncle Nasir!” The tiny girl grinned before she pulled at his pant leg looking up at him, excitement written on her face.

“What’s  up?” Nasir leaned to scoop the little girl within his arms. She and her twin were alone in the family. Anne Marie and Lea were a year older and had bonded well as such but that left the young girls stuck between Austen and their older sister and cousin. While the girls all got along with one another, it wasn’t hard to tell that eventually that would probably change.

“Daddy let us help!” Her excitement shown in her eyes as she looked at him. Even when she came to visit him and Agron, she loved helping them out in the kitchen or even Eva when she chose to cook for the night. The excitement didn’t surprise him and he was glad to hear that she was happy.

“Oh yea?” Nasir placed a gentle kiss on her cheek before setting her on the floor in order to play with her cousins and sisters once more.

“Yea!” She giggled taking Emma by the hand and leading her off for her own bedroom in order to play with her new dollies and toys.

“It’s amazing how easy they are to impress sometimes.” Duro chuckled once Karlee, Emma, Aerlia and Lea had disappeared. Faith was the antisocial one, her attention disorder often made it hard for her to simply play with other kids. While the other girls would play when she was ready to, it would probably be a long while before she decided that she was ready to play.

Slinking into an arm chair, Duro set his head back against the back of the chair while Faith curled up against his shoulder.

“Always the things that we think are so simple.” Nasir shook his head, curling up with Agron on the couch, resting his head on his shoulder. “The things that we take for granted.”

“The memories that they will keep the rest of their lives.” Kat offered with a smile. “I can remember spending summers when I was a kid with my mother out on the beach. We went every year to the same little beach and we’d pick shells. She’d let me bring home as many as I wanted, I had boxes of them by the time I graduated. I think they’re probably around somewhere, but mom never judged. She never told me that there were too many shells or that one looked just like another. She always let me decide, let me feel them and touch them.”

It was a fond memory for Kat, she had grown up without her father a lot of the time since he had been in the military and they had lived across the country in many different spots because of it. It hadn’t been until she was in college that the girl had finally found somewhere that she could stay and live in one place.

“I think my favorite memory of my mum was when I was younger, she used to make the best chocolate chip cookies in the world and then she’d tell me that I couldn’t have any.” Nasir shook his head at the thought. “I was maybe six years old at the time and I’d wait until she was busy and sneak one out. I know that she knew what I was doing but she never seemed to be upset about it no matter what she had made them for.”


	10. Chapter 10

Duro and Agron exchanged a look as if wondering what the other was thinking about in this moment and smile formed upon Duro’s lips before he nodded as if urging Agron to speak.

“Our mother was the kindest woman that you could ever meet. She would do anything for anyone no matter what she was doing. She’d just drop it and do anything that you asked of her. Anyways, she played the piano and I’ll never forget, Duro was about four and he’d decided that he wanted to play the piano.” His eyes drifted to his brother shaking his head at the memory. “I-I’d always wanted to but with dad and all, she just never had time to teach me. So that day in particular Duro was adamant that he’d learn how to play for mom and she finally took the time to sit down at the piano with him. I’ll never forget it though, she invited me to come and sit with her and Duro and we played for hours.” He didn’t seem the least bit phased by the tears that slipped down his cheeks as he spoke. “I-I’ll never forget it.”

“Neither will I Bruder.” Duro’s voice was weak as he spoke, not wanting to make matters worse. “D-do you still play?” He knew that after their mother’s death, when he had found time, Agron had taken piano lessons and had played for a long while.

“A little.” Agron’s voice was quiet as he spoke. It had been a long while since he’d played and he wasn’t sure that he could anymore.

“Come on Bruder, there’s a piano in the living room, play with me?” Duro offered a weak smile as he looked at him.

Agron offered a nod as he looked at his brother. “Y-yes.” The word came as a whisper as he spoke it. It was time to stop hiding from the memory, he knew that much and yet he didn’t know how to do such.

Pushing himself from the chair that he had settled into, Duro stood up waiting on his brother before he set Faith in the chair that he had just been sitting in. The tiny girl began to fuss and cry looking up at him but a few words from him quieted her in a moment.

Settling in beside Duro at the piano he allowed a laugh to slip between his lips at how awkward it was sitting side by side with him. It was certainly much different from it had been all those years ago when they had done this before. “What are we playing?”

Duro laughed softly fingers moving over the keys as he began to play the melody for him. “Remember it?”

Agron indeed remembered it well and he knew why Duro had chosen it as well. His fingers moved over the keys joining his brother an octave lower than Duro. He never seemed to notice that Nasir had joined them, nor that Kat had settled in within her favorite arm chair across the room. The song had been one of their mother’s favorites; he couldn’t remember the words, no matter how hard he tried. He knew that they were lost somewhere within his memory, somewhere in the back of his head but no matter what he tried he simply couldn’t remember them anymore.

Yet it was Duro’s voice that he found quietly singing along, the words were in German, something that surprised even Agron. He knew that his brother spoke it but usually it was only when he was upset. Neither had spoken of their mother’s memories since she’d died other than to speak of how she’d been, not until tonight anyways.

 “Let me guess your mother sang it to you before bed?” Kat offered a smile as they finished playing. Her own mother had sang it to her, her father being of German heritage, and having done time there while he was in the military. It was one of the reasons that Kat understood Duro as well as he did when he ended up on one of his tangents in the language. Even the kids were beginning to speak it and understand it.

“Y-yea, how did you know?” Duro looked confused as he looked at her. He couldn’t imagine how she would know such a thing being as he never spoke of it with her.

“My mother used to sing it when she tucked me into bed at night, usually when my father was away and she didn’t want me to worry about where he was.” Kat offered a weak smile setting the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Austen on her husband’s shoulder.

Nasir for his own part was quiet, he was proud of Agron, of the brothers really. He wanted him to know that, and yet this didn’t seem like the right time to tell him either.

“How about we go get something to eat? Dinner should be ready.” Duro offered a weak smile as he looked up at Kat. It wasn’t easy to talk about their mother, the memories often too painful to speak of. It wasn’t hard to speak of their father, nor his death. It hadn’t been a sad thing after all that he had done to them and with that said they had gotten over it. Their mother on the other hand was like an angel sent to look after them and losing her had been devastating for both of them.

“Sounds like a plan.” It was Nasir who finally spoke again. “Would you like Agron and I to go and have the girls get cleaned up?” His eyes turned to little Faith was trying to climb up in Duro’s lap at the piano.

“Yea, thanks.” Kat couldn’t help the smile that formed upon her lips. She knew that this was a big step for all of them and yet it had gone so well and she knew that it could only get better from here. Of course there might be a few snags along the way but they weren’t anything major to be worried about at this point.

Agron pushed himself up from the piano bench scooping Faith up within his arms; he offered a smile as he looked at the little girl. “Come on sweetheart, let’s go get your hands washed for dinner and then we’ll get your sisters and cousins ready for dinner too.”

Faith simply nodded as she looked up at Agron. For the longest time Duro had feared the little girl was mute but she did speak even though she preferred not to on a normal basis.

She was very unlike Karlee who bubbled happily all the time. She would speak if she was spoken to or not and even in her sleep on occasion. It was something that baffled the brothers for a long period of time and as such neither would listen to Kat when she said that it was very normal for twins.

Heading for the bathroom, Agron carefully set her on the edge of the counter to let her wash her hands as Nasir rounded up the other girls. “How’s Miss Faith?” He knew that if she didn’t want to she wouldn’t answer him and would instead ignore him.

“Good.” Her voice was quiet but it was an answer anyway, that was a start. “Daddy says that maybe one day this week I can go with him to work.”

“Oh yea?” Agron had known that the girls went with him often enough but he could only imagine that she was bored out of her mind when she did go.

“Uh huh. Karlee didn’t wants to goes with him.” The tiny girl pulled the towel from the rack where Kat so neatly kept it, drying her hands on it. “She rather goes shopping with Kore.”

Agron wasn’t surprised to hear that part and in fact he wondered where the woman was. He knew that Duro had asked her if she would consider taking on the family for a live in nanny position. It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle his own kids, nor that Kat didn’t help but the girls could be a handful at times, especially Faith and because of such it often helped to have someone else around to help out and in truth, he appreciated having Kore around to help out.

“You think we should go find your sisters and Uncle Nasir?” Agron offered a small smile as he scooped the little girl up again.

“Nos.” The little girl crossed her arms across her chest allowing Agron to set her on the floor before she went racing off for the kitchen once more.

Slipping out of the bathroom, Agron moved down the hallway towards Annie’s room. It was normally where the girls seemed to enjoy playing for whatever reason. Leaning against the door frame he couldn’t help smiling at what he found. Nasir was settled on the floor playing with the girls, letting Karlee play with his hair and Agron couldn’t help feeling a pang of jealousy directed towards the little girl not even he got to play with Nasir’s hair. Finally he cleared his throat which caused Nasir to turn around, eyes wide as he looked up at his lover. “I thought you were coming to get the girls to wash their hands for dinner?”

“Well, I, uh was…” Nasir offered a weak smile as he looked upon Agron. “Right, come on girls. Let’s go get cleaned up for supper.”

“Will you come play after dinner Uncle Nasir?” Annie looked up at him, her bottom lip stuck out as she looked upon him.

“Yea, yea I’ll come play if you’ll go and wash your hands up like you’re supposed to.” Nasir’s response caused the little girl to go racing off for the bathroom in order to was her hands, Emma and Lea following after her but yet Karlee stayed.

“Come on Karlee.” Nasir offered a smile holding his arms out to the little girl knowing that she was a daddy’s girl.

“Otay.” The little girl allowed a sigh to slip between her lips as she let go of the handful of hair that she had been holding onto. “You’re very prettys Uncle Nasir.”

“Thanks Sweetheart.” Nasir offered a smile as he looked down at her. “How about you go see Uncle Agron while I put my hair back up?”

“Nos! You’re prettier with it downs.”

“She’s right you know.” Agron laughed as he looked upon his lover, a smile forming on his lips as he did. “I’ve said it time and time again, yet you always tell me that it is too hard to manage or other things.”

Nasir’s eyes turned to the floor for a minute as he thought about it. “Alright, let’s go and get you cleaned up sweetie.” His words were quiet as he spoke, making Agron wonder why he was giving in to such a request and yet he followed after him, picking the towel up from where the other girls had dropped it for Karlee to dry her hands on. Once she was done, he followed after the little girl as she took off in the direction of the kitchen, as if she knew that her daddy would be found there along with the other girls.

Once she had gotten far enough ahead, Agron gave Nasir a shove against the wall. Setting a hand on each side of him, his eyes fell upon his lover. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Nasir offered a smile as he looked up at the other man. “I am just surprised to hear you speak out as such in front of a child I guess.”

“I would tell whoever would listen how beautiful you are Nasir.” Agron leaned down to place a kiss upon Nasir’s lips. “Now come on.” Pulling at his hand with a smile Agron started down the hall once more.

***

“So how are things at home?” Duro asked, his eyes turning to his brother who was drying the dishes beside him.

“Oh you know how it is. Busy and hard but otherwise, things are going rather smoothly as far as the kids and Nasir and I though if that’s what you’re asking.” Agron offered a shrug as he looked at him. “We don’t get to see a lot of each other but it’s worth it for the kids to be happy.”

Kat and Nasir had settled in, in the living room with Austen who was happily babbling away, which left Agron feeling a little better about talking about things at home. His brother was his confidant, something that Nasir was well aware of.

 

“You’ve got to make you time though too Agron.” Duro sighed handing over a plate to dry. “Don’t bother trying to pretend like it isn’t driving you nuts that it isn’t. I mean the worst thing that you can do for yourself right now is to say you’re fine and that there’s nothing wrong.”

“Yea, I do miss him.” Agron sighed drying the plate and putting it away, his eyes finally turning to look at his brother. “But he loves what he’s doing for work and I cant, no I wont ask him to give that up. There’s no in between though Duro, that’s the part that’s driving me nuts. There is no way to stop halfway in between.”

“Well….”Duro offered a laugh before he looked at his brother. “There is a way to stop in between. I was going to call and tell you later on but now seems like the best time for it. There’s not enough work for all of us to be there at the same time and I figured we’d go to an every third day rotation. That’ll free us all up to do the things that we wish we could and you can have Nasir around more often. During the week it’ll just be you and Nasir and Austen, I know it’s a pay change but we can account for that later on too if we need to.”

Agron froze listening to his brother, was it possible that they had truly found a solution to the problem. “Duro, you can’t do this just for me…” His eyes drifted over Duro’s face trying to decide why he was really doing this. Was it because of them? Was it for Kat? What had caused this shift in his brother’s ideas?

“It’s not just for you Agron. As much as I’d love to say it was, it’s not. You miss Nasir, I miss my kids and I’m beginning to think that they see more of Kore then they do me. Saxa’s been whining about not seeing enough of Gannicus and there’s just so much that we need to take care of. We need to do this Agron, as long as everyone agrees; it’s what should be done.”

“What about Kore? You just asked her to be live in nanny and now you’re changing your mind and your plans and….” Agron looked confused as he eyed Duro, no longer concerned about his own life.

“She’s still got the job. You know what a handful Faith can be on her own.” He offered a smile looking at his brother, laughing as he did. “So it just makes sense to keep her on. Kat’s trying to find another psychiatrist to take over some of her time at the clinic, Crixus is trying to do the same. It’s just too much for the two of them to be trying to do on their own. It’s the same thing with you and Nasir. Nasir needs to be home with you and you need to see him more than five minutes at a time when you lay down at night.”

Agron nodded thinking about it for a minute. He knew that his brother meant well but it was hard to think about what  Duro had just purposed, and that Nasir would really be home with him. “Well, I agree and I’m sure that Nasir will as well. He was just saying the other night that he was missing out on a lot of the kids lives, I think missing Lea’s dance recital really got to him.”

“Why didn’t he say something? We’d have been find without him and he would have been more than free to go to the recital.” Duro sighed rubbing his eyes as he listened to his brother talk. “I’m going to have to give him a stern lecture now.”

“I know Duro, I know but think about it when it comes to you. What would you have done? Would you have gone or would you have worked through it and tried to make the child understand that you were sorry?” Agron didn’t really need to ask the question to know the answer but he asked anyways.

“I’d work I guess.” Duro sighed and shook his head. “I suppose we got that from our ‘father’ huh?”

Agron wasn’t at all surprised to hear Duro refer to their father in this fashion. It wasn’t as if either one of them had really ever loved the man, perhaps they had forgiven him for what he had done to save themselves from the hell that it had caused them to go through but neither one really ever thought of him as their father. “At least that was all we got from him.”

“Agreed.” Duro hated the thought of ever raising a hand to one of his children. On occasion, one of them would get a swat on the butt for something they had done but he could never consider doing to them what had been done to him, several times before.

They had both inherited the man’s temper but they also kept it pretty well in check most of the time. Of course from time to time they let it get out of hand at the wrong moments but they tried their damndest to keep it from that. “Anyways, I do appreciate the offer and I know where you stand, and you know where I stand. Now it’s just a matter of talking it over with Nasir and Gannicus.”

“Well I mentioned it to Gannicus and he agreed that it would be kind of nice to get some time with Bree when she got out of school without the other kids, so he’s on board. Under the normal way of making decisions, we don’t really need Nasir’s opinion; however, I understand if you would like to speak with him.” Duro could only imagine how Nasir would react if he realized that Agron had spoken for him on something that would clearly affect them both.


	11. Chapter 11

“Daddy!” Annie whimpered, her dolly in her hand as she wandered into the kitchen, her cheeks streaked with tears.

“What’s the matter baby girl?” Duro asked taking the towel from Agron to dry his hands on them before he scooped the little girl up in his arms.

“Mommy says I hafta come talk to you. Sissy brokeded my dolly.” She held out the Pocahontas doll in one hand and her arm in the other.” The doll was her favorite and this wasn’t the first time that something like this had ever happened.

“Oh no, not again.” Duro offered a smile before he settled into one of the kitchen chairs, the little girl settled upon his lap before he took the doll from her. “Well it’s a good thing that this is an easy fix or we might have to ask Uncle Agron to play doctor with us too.”

Taking the tiny arm from her hand, he carefully popped the ball back into where it belonged. “There, now remember be gentle with her and tell sissy to be nice.” Leaning over Duro placed a kiss on the top of Annie’s head.

“Okay daddy!” Annie offered a smile holding the doll close to her chest as if she might die if someone took her away again. “I wonts let nuffin happen to her again.”

“Good, now go play.” Duro grinned watching as the little girl did exactly that before his eyes turned to look at Agron, surprised by the smirk upon his lips. “What’s up?”

“I was just thinking I guess.”

“About what?” Duro was trying to figure out what was going on in his brother’s head but it wasn’t that simple.

“I just never figured that after all the trouble you got into as a kid, after the tough hard ass you were, that I was going to ever see you with a sweet little girl like any of yours.” No matter how many times Agron looked in the mirror, sometimes he had trouble believing that this was all real.

Duro laughed as he pushed himself from the chair he’d been sitting in. “Oh but you, you’re just meant for kids. I mean you weren’t a handful when you were younger or anything.” As he moved closer to his brother, Duro did something very uncharacteristic for either of them; he wrapped his brother in his arms, pulling him close to him in a hug. “But look at how your kids have turned out. Alright so Eva is just like you when you were a kid but stubborn or not, she’s turned out to be a great kid. Why don’t you let us take the girls tonight, that’ll leave just you and Nasir, along with that sweet little bundle of joy of yours? You can get some quality time that way.”

“I cant do that Duro.” Agron offered a smile as he looked at his brother. He loved Duro, loved him with all of his heart, and he knew that his baby brother would do anything in his power for him, but this he couldn’t allow him to do.

“Sure you can. It’s simple, you go pry your son from my wife because she hates letting him go, and then you take Nasir by the hand and lead him out the front door.” Duro grinned finally releasing his brother from his arms. “Honest, Kore should be home in a little bit  and we both know she adores you girls as much as my own and you need time to yourself.”

“Talk about it with Kat, at least do me that favor.” Agron hated to give in to him but he knew he always would with Duro.

“Come on Bruder.” Duro pulled at his arm, grinning like he had several times as a child when he got his way. He knew that Kat wouldn’t argue which meant that he would be sending Nasir and Agron home absent the girls.

Agron followed after him shaking his head as he did.

“Kat darling.” Duro grinned as he looked upon the woman, grinning like a mad man as he looked at her.

“What did you do?”

Nasir attempted to hide a snicker in his arm but it wasn’t as effective as he wished it to be. “How do you know he’s done something or is about to do something?”

“Because that’s about the only time that he looks like this, so dear what is it you would like?” Kat and Duro had been together longer than Nasir and Agron which often times surprised people, and she knew him just as well as Agron did, sometimes a little better she occasionally thought. The two of them had met in a classroom, she’d never forget the first time she’d met him. He’d been goofing around with Gannicus, who was just as hung over as he was but Duro was hiding it better. She’d tutored him through the class, over lunch some days, others the library and eventually he’d invited her back to his dorm and asked her out. It had been one of the best yeses that she had ever said.

“Well, I was going to ask you if you’d like to take the girls for the evening and send my brother & his husband home for the night to get some quality time together.” Duro sank in beside him on the couch beside Kat, wrapping an arm around her as he did, his fingers reaching out to tickle at sweet little Austen’s toes, smiling as the little boy laughed.

“Yea, yea.” Kat knew how hard it was for the two of them to get time together and if she could help, then she would more than happily do so for her brother-in-laws. She would do almost anything for them, no matter what it was, and often times even if they didn’t ask it of her. “We’ll gladly take them off your hands for the night. Kore just got home and she was headed to go peek in on the girls. It doesn’t matter how many times we tell her to take a night off, she gets back and goes to the girls. What’s three more to add to the count.”

“Is that sarcasm that I detect?” Agron asked sinking in beside Nasir, smiling down at him as the man settled in with his head against his shoulder, the ebony locks billowing out against it as Nasir looked up through the strands at him.

“No, I mean it with all of my heart.” Kat smiled as she looked at him. “We aught to take them a night a week or something like that.”

“Well, I’ll let you take our little terrors if you’ll let us take yours tomorrow night.” Agron grinned as he looked at his brother. Perhaps Duro had won this round and maybe he would win the next as well but Agron would return the favor every now and then as well.

“I can do that.” Duro nodded as he eyed his brother. “You sure that you can handle them all?”

“Positive.” Nasir nodded as he looked at the other man. “We’ve done much worse over the years. I’m sure we can handle six little girls running around, there’s room for them in the guest room.”

“I’m sure that Kore would stay until they were asleep if you’d like the added help.” Duro knew that it would be tough for the two of them but somehow his brother always managed to get through it and even if he hadn’t offered, he was sure that he would find something to do with the kids.

“Mmmm maybe.” The shrug that Agron offered was very nonchalant and put off the decision until the two of them got to talk it over and yet still he had answered him, even if it was in his own way.

***

“God, it’s going to take a lot to be able to sleep tonight.” Nasir laughed as Agron wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer to him. “I’m not used to the kids being here, Eva’s footsteps upstairs, Derrick slipping up the stairs late trying to pretend like we aren’t still awake and we don’t know that he’s not in bed.”

“They’re safe, and we still have Austen.” Agron offered, hoping that maybe it would make the other man feel a little better about this. He knew that when it came to his brother, if anything were even close to going to happen then he would defend them as if they were his own.

“Yea, I know they are but it’s tough.” Nasir sighed as Agron buried his face within the ebony locks of Nasir’s hair, smiling at the smell of the apple shampoo that he had used when he’d showered. “Even with as short a time as Emma’s been with us, I feel like she’s a part of our family and no matter what, she should be here. Not that I think your brother would let harm come to them but I would like to take the girls for them tomorrow. Kat was telling me how exhausted she feels lately.”

“She did look a little rough tonight, I think it has to do with the hours that she’s working lately which are astronomical from what Duro was saying.” He shook his head at the thought, he adored his sister-in-law but he couldn’t imagine trying to keep her practice going, getting a clinic started and then on top of it keeping the house going and the kids safe.”

“No, this was more than she was tired.” Nasir bit his lip as he thought about it. “I don’t know what it was, she just, she seemed like something was wrong, you know what I mean? I couldn’t put my finger on it and she was in a good mood so I didn’t want to ruin it but, something just wasn’t right with her.”

Agron offered a shrug. “Duro didn’t mention anything and I’m sure if there was something drastically wrong then he would have but it’s hard to tell with him sometimes. Maybe he didn’t want to ruin the night or something. You really think that somethings wrong?” The words struck Agron in the heart he knew his brother’s love for the woman and if anything were to happen to her then Duro would surely crumble. Besides that the woman was a true friend, she always had been and Agron worried about her.

“I cannot say for certain.” Nasir shook his head as he looked at him. “Perhaps there is and she hasn’t told Duro, I do not know. Maybe you are right, maybe it is just that she is tired and needs some time off. The question I pose to you though is, do we need Kore’s help?”

Agron paused at the thought, it wasn’t unlike them to have six kids in the house, in fact they were used to that, however, they would also probably have the two older ones in addition, unless they disappeared to a friends house as well. “Faith can be a handful at times, and even Duro requires Kore’s help, so despite my dislike for it, it is probably for the best. I would however, much rather give her the night off as well.”

“I know Aggie.” Nasir sighed, allowing them both to fall into silence, settling in against Agron again, his head resting upon his chest, eyes closing as he listened to Agron’s heart beating. He knew that his lover wanted to save the world, he would do anything to ease another person’s suffering and yet there was nothing that they could do in this case in order to make that happen. He wished there was something else, and he would try and sort it but he wished that Agron would sleep. “Sleep baby, it’ll make you feel a little better.”

“I would but we need to talk about something.” Agron thought about the words too late, they were out of his mouth before he had considered what Nasir would think when it came to that. “Sorry, what I mean is, Duro proposed something and I want to run it by you before we make any solid decisions on what we’re going to do in this situation.”

“O-ok.” Nasir watched him trying to figure out what was coming next but he just couldn’t seem to predict it and as such, he quietly waited on Agron to continue.

“He’s purposing a change in schedules. We’re all missing out on our families and I think it’s starting to get one everyone’s nerves. Not to mention that we really don’t need everyone in the same place all at once. So his purposed plan is to move to a three day rotation so that everyone gets time off to be where they would much rather be. I’m not saying everyone hates being at work, it’s just like we talked about. You miss out on so much that it makes you feel like you’re missing out on the kid’s lives.” Agron sighed waiting on Nasir’s answer. He felt as though he had just been rambling on and there was nothing he could say that wouldn’t make any sense to the man but he was beginning to understand.

“Yea, I think that it sounds like a great idea.” Nasir nodded. He wanted to be a part of his kids lives but he also wanted to have a life of his own, to work, and if this was the best of both worlds then he would gladly take it.

“Good, I’ll let Duro know then.” Agron leaned down pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Now sleep.”

***

“Come sit with me for a minute hey Agron?” Kat offered a small smile as she looked up at him for a minute. The girls were at school and Duro wasn’t home yet from work which meant that for once, there was peace in the house for the one rare time that she was home early. “Duro should be home soon, I’m sure it was him you came to see after all.”

“What’s on your mind?” Agron’s eyes drifted over the woman who sat beside him now on the porch swing. He knew that she had something on her mind, but if she didn’t want to talk about it, he understood he supposed.

“I have to tell your brother something and I don’t know how.” Kat sighed rubbing at her eyes. “It’s not end of the world but you know how your brother is about taking bad news. I just don’t want to freak him out.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me what it is that you have to tell him and we’ll see if we cant walk him through it.” Agron offered, settling back against the back of the swing. He couldn’t imagine anything that could possibly shake Duro as much as she thought it would.

“I-I went to the doctor last week.” Kat sighed rubbing at her eyes, this was hard to say, hard to imagine, and scary all at the same time. “They’ve picked up on the fact that I’m anemic, and well, they’re trying to figure out the cause, she took enough blood to start a fucking blood bank. I-I can tell Duro that much, he wont take it well but it’s the next part that scares me, she thinks maybe it’s leukemia.” Tears streaked the woman’s cheeks as she looked up at him.

“Gods, Katrina.” Agron felt as though someone had punched him in the chest as he reached out to take the woman within his arms, holding her close. She was right, this would kill Duro. “But, it’s not for sure, until you do, you have to stay positive.”

The woman couldn’t help nodding. “I knew something wasn’t right but…I-I, never thought it was going to be anything like this.” The tears that streaked her face, took her make up with it and it was obvious that she’d need to get cleaned up before Duro got home if she wanted to pretend that nothing was wrong.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up ok? As for Duro, you cant not tell him. Either way if you tell him now or you tell him when you find out, it’ll kill him but I know Duro and not telling him will only make it worse.” Agron didn’t mean to chastise and he hoped that she knew that. As he got up, he offered a hand to her.

“What would we do without you Aggie?” Kat offered a weak smile as she took his hand within hers, allowing herself to get up to her feet. Her eyes fell on him, a smile forming on her lips as she looked up at her brother-in-law. “Thanks.”

“It’s in my job description.” Agron offered as he nodded. “Besides, Nasir had it figured out the other night when we came over. He was pretty sure that something wasn’t right. So where do they intend to go from here?” He hated to upset her again as he walked beside her but it was a question he needed to ask.

“The doctor called earlier with an appointment for a bone marrow test Monday, it was the soonest she could schedule it. From there maybe it’ll be negative and we can forget this night mare but if not.” Her voice drifted off as she looked at him.

“Positive Kat, you’re going to be fine.” He leaned against the bathroom doorframe as she began to clean the make up off of her face. “No matter what, we’re always here for you. If you need us to take the kids for the night or whatever, please call, hell even if you need someone to come sit with you for an appointment, I’m there.”

Once she had finished taking the make up off and drying her face she finally pushed herself up on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you Agron.”

“It’s what family is for.”

“Agron?” His brother’s voice made the two of them jump. “Kat, what are you doing home?” IT was obvious by Duro’s expression that he didn’t understand what was going on.

“I stopped in to drop off the books that you asked for, I figured you were going to be home since the kids should be home soon but when I got here you weren’t here but I found Kat.” Agron wasn’t lying, that was what he had stopped for and it was how he had found Kat after all.

“And my last appointment for the day canceled so I figured I’d come home since I’m not due into the clinic. I’ll leave you alone.” She offered a smile, letting go of Agron before she started for the kitchen.

Duro’s eyes drifted over his brother for a moment before he spoke. “You know, if you weren’t only interested in men I’d worry you were trying to snake my wife out from under me.”

The statement caused Agron to laugh. “That’s what makes you think it isn’t true? It isn’t the part where I’m your brother, or where you know that I can’t stand the thought of cheating much less do it with your wife and oh did I forget the part where I’m happily married?”

“Agron, I-I’m…” Duro sighed. It had been a rough couple of days, Kat had been acting strange for going on a week now and not knowing what was bothering her was killing him. “Look, it’s been a long week and I guess I spoke without thinking about it. I know that you wouldn’t do it anymore than I would. Fuck, am I ever sorry Aggie.”

“Hey, it’s cool.” Agron reached out setting a hand on Duro’s shoulder, offering a smile. “I’m here, remember that ok? You need to talk, all you have to do is call me, show up on my doorstep, whatever, I’m always here for you.”

“I know Aggie, I know.” Duro sighed as he pressed his lips together as he looked at his brother. He loved him, really he did but he just wasn’t the type to open up about what he was feeling on a normal basis.

“I’m going to slip out quietly, let you two get some time alone together while the kids aren’t home.” Agron offered a weak smile. “I left the books in the entry way, if you need anything else don’t be afraid to call huh?”

“You know what it is don’t you?” Duro eyed his brother, he was used to his behaviors, knew what they meant and he had come to understand that the way that Agron was acting meant that he and Kat had talked, that he knew whatever was bothering him. Why would she tell Agron first? Why hadn’t she told him yet?

“Talk to her Duro, that’s all that I can suggest.” Agron’s voice was calm as he spoke. He refused to tell him, it wasn’t his place and in fact he knew that Kat intended to tell him herself.

“Alright, I’ll call you later?”

“Yea, call me later.” Agron nodded setting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. He knew that he would hear from his brother, that Duro would call and he would be upset but he also knew that he could probably talk him down as well. While he couldn’t solve all of Duro’s problems, he still felt responsible for him a lot of the time and he would help in any way that he possibly could.

***

“Duro.” Nasir’s voice was quiet as he looked at the man before him, the younger brother’s cheeks were streaked with tears, his eyes red from crying. Stepping aside Nasir gestured for him to come in, thankfully Agron told Nasir what was going on and this didn’t come as a surprise.

“Thank you.” Duro swallowed hard as he leaned against the wall trying to settle himself back down. He’d been wandering around in the rain for over an hour now, when he’d shown up on his brother’s door step, it was almost as if it was destiny.

“Come on, the kids are asleep, it’s ok if you come in. Aggie’s in the kitchen.” He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know how to make him feel better, and that was all the tinier man longed to do right now.

Duro didn’t say anything as he followed after Nasir, in fact he wasn’t sure if he could form the words that he wanted to say right now. His eyes fell upon his brother and all he could do was shake his head. “I-I didn’t know where else to go.”

Agron’s eyes turned up hearing the shake in his brother’s voice, it told him that Duro hadn’t taken this as well as he had hoped for. “No, no, it’s ok Duro.” Moving across the room, he carefully took Duro within his arms, pulling him close. “She’s going to be fine. Kat’s a fighter; no matter what it is she’s going to be fine. We don’t even know what’s going on yet, so maybe it’s not something to even be upset about. It could be something as simple as her diet.” His finger tips ran through his brother’s hair, and for the first time in a long time he didn’t feel like he was rambling.

“All I can think of is what it was like when she was sick during the pregnancy for the girls and now there’s this too. What if it’s my fault, what if the last pregnancy was the reason for this.” Agron felt Duro’s tears soak at his shirt but he didn’t pull away or complain. He loved his brother, he would do anything for him and now this was happening and there was no way to make it better for him. All he could do was try and comfort him the best that he could.

“This isn’t your fault Duro.” Agron’s voice was gentle, his hand running down his brother’s back as he spoke. It killed him that Duro felt like this, it was anything but the truth and he wished he could make his brother feel better about it. “You now have two beautiful little girls whom you love with all of your heart and think about it Duro, if that was really what was going on I’m sure that she would have shown symptoms long before now. It’s been two years now Duro, that wasn’t it.”

Nasir had slipped off to check in on the kids and leave the brothers to talk. While he had accepted Duro as family and would do anything that he possibly could, he felt like this was a time where they needed to be alone as well. Pausing in the door way, his eyes drifted from one to the other, a smile spreading over his lips. The brother’s relationship was amazing, there was nothing that could ever come between them and when it came to Agron he would always look after Duro. For Duro’s part though it was obvious that he would turn to his brother no matter what it was that had happened.

“Thank you Aggie, for everything.” The words were weak as Duro spoke them but he meant each and every word he had just spoken. He loved his brother, was glad for the support and his eyes turned to look at Nasir. “And thank you, for keeping my Bruder sane. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“It is what I do.” Nasir nodded as he looked at the younger German. “And if there is anything else we can do, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“You want a beer?” Agron offered a tiny grin pulling away from Duro. He knew the answer but he figured he’d ask his brother anyways. He’d take Duro home since he’d shown up on foot and as such he wasn’t concerned.


	12. Chapter 12

“Yea, that’d be nice and you mind if I borrow the phone? I should call Kat and tell her I’m alive and alright.” He sighed rubbing at his eyes for a minute trying to decide what he was going to say to her. It wasn’t easy, but he knew that it couldn’t be easy for her either, yet he had walked out the door on her and as such he felt bad for walking out on her but he had needed to think.

“Yea, go for it.” Nasir offered holding the phone out to him once he’d scooped it up from the table in front of him. “She’s going to understand you know.”

“I hope so, I really do.” Duro nodded, taking the beer from his brother as he dialed the number to the house, pressing the phone to his ear as he waited for Kat to answer.

“Aggie, Duro’s gone, I-I….” Kat sounded panicked and Duro felt bad for causing her to feel this way and there had to be a way to make it up to her.

“It’s me Kat.” Duro was having a hard time trying to decide what to say and how to say it. “I was just calling to tell you that I’m here, that I’m sorry that I worried you and that I will be home as soon as you would like me to be there. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have walked out on you like that, I should have stayed, made sure that you were ok.”

“No Duro, you’re fine.” Kat found herself laughing and she felt bad doing so but under the stress, she understood how reactions could just happen. “Stay with your brother, I have things handled here. I’m actually feeling kind of tired so I was going to call Agron and then I was head to bed but you beat me to calling so I guess I’m going to go to bed.”

“Alright, sleep well hey? I’ll be home in a little bit and I’ll try not to wake you up when I come to bed.”

“Don’t worry about it, you know that I prefer sleeping with you by my side anyways.” Though Kat wouldn’t deny it right now, she was tired and all she really wanted was to go to bed and curl up and go to sleep. She was tired of feeling exhausted all the time and she knew that it meant that she would have to take it easy at work especially if it really did turn out to be leukemia but if not there were things that could be done she supposed.

“Alright, good night Kat.” Duro offered a weak smile. The sound of her voice made him feel better even if he knew that she was only trying to be strong for him. “I love you, remember that.”

“I love you too Duro.”

Finally hanging up the phone, Duro set it back on the table sinking into the chair at the table, taking a long sip from the bottle in his hand.

“What’s on your mind?” Agron’s voice was calm as he sank into the chair across the table from him, his foot scratching at Layla’s side under the table where she laid.

“I just, I’m wondering what our family did to deserve this I guess.” Duro shook his head thinking about all the things that they had all been through. It was a lot, sometimes he wondered if it wasn’t too much really but they had all seemed to survive after all. Maybe, just maybe this time it would be the same.

“Nothing.” Agron sighed shaking his head at the thought. “We’ve never done anything to deserve half of what we got.” He leaned his head back against the wall behind his chair, his feet rubbing over Layla as he did.

Under the table the dog let out a soft sigh adjusting against Agron’s feet so that he could better pet her, which caused both of the brother’s to laugh. Duro shook his head, glad for the break in the tensions. “She’s a good dog isn’t she?”

It was true, when Layla had walked into the house on her own that day, they had inherited one of the best pets that anyone could ever ask for. That was something that neither Agron nor Nasir could deny. The same could be said of Duke who had taken to sleeping beside Derrick’s bed once Aries had come into the picture, taking over his spot in Eva’s bed. All three of the dogs were great dogs and no one could ever deny that.

“One of the best. The worst part of it is when we take her to the park or we take her out somewhere. People look at her and all they see is a pit bull and they assume that she’s going to try and chew their leg off or she’s going to attack them or whatever. It doesn’t matter how much you argue, they just see that stereo type and that’s all.” Agron hated it, he despised it in fact. She was such a good dog and it killed him to hear someone tell them that they were horrible parents because they allowed the dog to be around the kids, especiall Austen.

“Well, it’s kind of like us Agron. When we firsti got here with mom we could hardly speak English,n we couldn’t fit in and people looked at us as if we were Hitler himself.” Duro sighed thinking about it for a minute. It had been tough, neither brother had really had a grasp of the English language and even when they did speak it, no one could understand them because their accents made them tough to decipher. It had been rough on both of them and yet they had endured.

“Or Lea and I.” Nasir muttered. Their darker skin often inherited comments about how their lives must be and how they aught to return home to where they belonged. Though Nasir often wondered how he was supposed to do such when he hadn’t been very old when his family had moved here after all. “But honestly, I prefer that Lea lives here than back home.” It was true, they both did, the feuds in Syria were no place for a young girl to be growing up.

“It’s sad how many people actually judge before they know the whole story.” Duro shook his head pressing the beer bottle in his hand to his lips again. He didn’t want to think about what was going on at home, he didn’t want to think about next week, none of it, all he wanted was to forget for awhile, and that was exactly what his brother was trying to help him do.

***

“How’s she doing?” Agron’s voice was gentle as he leaned against the living room wall. He knew that it was hard, he hated seeing his brother like this but he also didn’t know what to do.

“Sore, but she’s doing alright otherwise. Sleeping more than normal but the doctor thought that would happen. I think right now the worst of it is the not knowing. She wants to over react and I don’t blame her. I want to know just as much as she does, but I’m trying my damndest not to.” Duro shook his head. “And trying to figure out how to tell the girls is killing me. I think they know that something isn’t right already but they don’t know what happened and I don’t know how to tell them.”

“Hey,wait until you know. There’s no need to upset them with what might be if it’s not true.” Agron shook his head, eyes falling on his brother. “Kat sleeping?”

“No, she’s laying in on the bed watching tv. You want to see her? I’m sure that she would like that.” Duro’s eyes looked hopeful as he spoke, wanting to make Kat feel as well as he could and hoping that the distraction might help her some as well.

“Yea, why not.” Agron grinned as he looked at his brother. Maybe he was doing it for him, maybe he was doing it for Kat and maybe, just maybe he was doing it for himself but more than anything he wanted everything to go back to normal.

Duro’s eyes lit up as he looked at his older brother, all he really wanted was for Kat to be alright. The not knowing was killing him but not being able to help her was driving him nuts as well. It was times like this that he was glad that the girls were at school during the day and Kore took care of the house for them. It allowed him to focus his attentions on Kat, at least until the girls got home and then he was trying to put a show on for the poor kids and it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Following after Duro, Agron offered a smile as his eyes fell upon Kat. She looked tired like she had for awhile now but otherwise Duro was right, she did look like she was in pain. “Hey you.” Agron offered a smile as he leaned over the bed carefully pulling the woman into his arms to hug her.

“Hey, tell me that you aren’t here to drop off food. Every time Nasir sends us meals, I always end up gaining weight.” Kat grinned as she looked up at him. “And I really don’t want to gain anything right now, I just worked so hard at trying to lose it all.”

“Well I hate to lie to you so I’m just going to say that you’re right, Nasir did send over food. He said to tell you he’ll drop in tomorrow while Duro’s at work and he’ll be glad to clean the house for you, and that you aren’t allowed to argue with him.” Agron laughed sinking to the bed beside her. It was kind of nice to see her laugh and smile even despite the situation at hand.

“Ugh. Tell him I can take care of it.” Kat shook her head as he looked at him but she thought twice about it as the room began to spin again. “Promise, I’ll be feeling better by tomorrow, the pain isn’t real bad, it’s just kind of stiff, has been for a couple of days now. Hopefully by the end of the day we should have the results and then our lives either get better or things go to hell.”

“Hey, remember what we talked about?” Agron’s voice was stern. “Either way we’re going to get through this Kat. It could very well just be anemia and damn it we’re going to take care of you. Don’t argue with Nasir, let him clean for you, just take another day to get better and then you’ll be ready to go back to work.”

“Knock, knock.” Crixus’ voice could be heard from the entry way. “I swear I’m here on a personal level not on a professional one.” The words caused Kat to laugh. “You can come in Crixus.”

The man appeared in the door way holding a plate of cookies. “Naevia sent these over, she said she knew that it isn’t much but she wanted to do something.”

“You’re all trying to fatten me up aren’t you.” Kat whined but she took the cookie that was offered to her anyways. Biting into it, she paused and looked at Crixus. “Oh holy fuck, I think I just figured it out.”

Duro and Agron exchanged a look of confusion as if trying to figure out what had prompted such a reaction or better yet what Naevia had put in the cookies if they caused this.

“What?” Crixus was just as confused as they were despite the fact that they shared a medical background, he still didn’t read minds and this was one of the many times he wished he did.

“The anemia. I find it doubtful that it’s caused by leukemia but perhaps more so the fact that I was a bulimic.” Her eyes returned to the cookie in her hand but it was obvious that her mind was somewhere else. “I did this to me.”

Crixus paused considering the thought for a minute. “It’s possible I suppose, perhaps not probable but did you mention your history to the doctor?”

“I-I….” Kat sighed and shook her head, letting her fingers wrap within Duro’s. “No I guess I didn’t. I don’t think about it anymore, it’s been so long and I guess I didn’t figure that it was going to come back to haunt me, but it did and that’s something I’m going to have to deal with now.”

“It’s alright Kat.” Agron’s voice was quiet as he spoke wanting to make her feel better but he knew that it would be hard. She felt bad about it, as if this was her fault, just like Duro had once thought it to be his own but neither one was true or right. “We’re going to get you through this, besides, look at it this way. If that’s what it is then you certainly don’t have leukemia and you wont have to worry about that at least.”

Duro couldn’t help but smile at his brother; it was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one trying to make a positive out of this situation and he certainly wasn’t the only one who wanted to make sure that Kat was alright.

“He’s right you know.” They were words that surprised them all. Even with as well as Crixus and Agron were beginning to get along over the last couple of years, it was rare that the man paid Agron a compliment and even rarer that he said Agron was right.

“I know.” Kat’s voice was quiet as she nibbled at her cookie. “Fuck, I wish they’d just call and tell me that the tests…” Her voice drifted off as the phone began to ring. Reaching over Agron to take the phone off the nightstand, she turned it on pressing it to her ear. “Hello?” She was quiet a few minutes before the tears began to run down her cheeks, nodding as she listened to the person on the other end of the phone. “Thank you, I really appreciate it.” Hanging up the phone once more, she tried to pull herself together but she just couldn’t manage to do so.

Duro’s heart nearly seized in his chest as he looked at the woman, wrapping his arms around her as he pulled her close. “Come on, it’s ok, no matter what happens, I’m always here for you. Agron’s always here for you. Hell, Crixus has proven that he’s always here for you, literally.”

The words caused Crixus to snicker, his eyes falling upon Kat who was trying her hardest not to laugh as well but it was proving to be much harder than she had anticipated. “That was the nurse, the results are in, they came back negative.” The tears began again as she rested her head against Duro’s shoulder but he felt better knowing that they were tears of happiness and relief.

“That’s wonderful.” Agron grinned, his fingers running over the woman’s arm lightly trying to make her feel better. He knew that she was upset but he was sure that she was also just as happy right now. “See, things work out in the end. You’ll be feeling better in no time if you start doing what the doctor tells you to.” He knew that this was one of the woman’s weaknesses, that her medical degree mad it hard for her to listen to others even when they were trying to help her out.


	13. Chapter 13

“Well, Crixus and I should be leaving.” Agron offered a smile as he looked at the woman settled within his brother’s arms. “and you my dear should be getting some sleep.”

“I suppose you’re right, the girls will be home in a while and I certainly wont get any sleep once they get here. They mean well but they can be very noisy at times.” Kat nodded patting Agron’s hand gently. “Tell Nasir we said thank you, and I guess if he wants to come and clean, he’s welcome to but please, please, please don’t let him feel like he has to.”

“He’ll be glad to hear that.” Agron offered a grin before he pushed himself from the bed, starting for the door. “And if you need anything please, please call.” His eyes fell upon his brother for a moment knowing that he would call if something came up but he wasn’t so sure about Kat.

“And we’re next door if you don’t feel like calling them.” Crixus grinned following after his lead.

“Right, we’ll see you before we have to call you Crixus.” Kat laughed shaking her head before she moved to allow Duro to follow them out.

“I’ll be back in a minute Katarina.” Duro placed a gentle kiss on her cheek before following the Gaul and his brother down the hall.

“Only my grandmother ever calls me that.” Kat called after him. “It’s Katrina to anyone else.”

Duro merely rolled his eyes leaning against the door frame as he looked at the men before him. “As you can see this has done nothing for her spunk. Thank you both, knowing that you’re concerned makes me feel a lot better.”

“Dare I ask why she’s upset?” Agron grinned at his brother. He could only imagine that it was not something that Duro had not already known when he said it but yet he continued on.

Duro snickered a moment before he shook his head. “Her name when she was born was Katarina, that was while her father was stationed in Germany. Eventually, somewhere in the paperwork it was changed to Katrina and her mother gave up fighting to get it fixed. Everyone adjusted to Katrina but her father’s mother refused and still calls her Katarina, it drives Kat nuts. She called this morning to see if she was alright and she complained for nearly half an hour afterwards.”

Agron sighed turning his keys on his finger. If his brother was able to make fun of Kat, he was obviously feeling much better, something that meant that Duro would be a handful to be sure. “Let her sleep Duro. Call me if you need me.”

***

“Awwww…” Kat shook her head as Austen began to toddle across the floor to her. “Agron, he’s absolutely beautiful. I cant..I just…I miss these days.” The woman was finally beginning to feel better, and had been able to return to work and Agron and Nasir had invited the pair over with the munchkins for dinner, one of the many attempts to ease the stress for them.

“No, you’re just finally healthy again, we’re not rushing into another one.” Duro shook his head, though the words were playful, he meant them. He finally understood how she had felt while he had been in the hospital; it was terrifying to think that you could lose the person that you loved.

“I didn’t say that we were, I just said I missed it.” Kat pouted, her eyes turning to her brother-in-laws. “Right guys?”

Nasir simply shook his head. “I think maybe it’s time for dessert.” Pushing himself from Agron’s lap.

“Chicken.” Agron grumbled as he watched him leave before his eyes turned back to the pair before him. “As for what did you mean, I’ve never been very good at reading minds so I will refrain from tossing my input out there.”

“Oh and Nasir is the chicken?” Duro laughed shaking his head as he looked at his brother, before his eyes turned to Emma who had just settled in on his lap. “Hey you.” Ever since he had met Emma, Duro loved the little girl, he’d gladly take her in as family and that was exactly what had happened. Plus she had taken him in as one of her favorites, probably the reason she had ever trusted Agron to begin with, and she was happy to be living with them.

The bruises the little girl had once had, had now faded away allowing a beautiful girl to show from under it all. Her icy blue eyes were sometimes hard to look into but they all had learned to get along with her, even despite her past issues. Trust wasn’t something that the little girl gave freely and the fact that she trusted them was enough for them to want to make do whatever they could to do right by her.

Nasir returned a few minutes later with a plate of brownies. “Eva’s triple chocolate brownies, she said to tell you that she hopes you will enjoy them as she went out on a babysitting job for the night.”

“She has learned from you I assume?” Kat laughed as Austen stole part of the brownie that she was eating. “Hey! That was mine.” She shook her head, hugging the little boy. He was a sweet little boy and the woman wished that she had one of her very own, she loved her girls but much like Duro, she wished they had a son of their own.

“Eva didn’t need much teaching. A lot of the time she took my recipes and then tweaked them here and there to make them her own. Agron tends to be her guinea pig but I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t mind that.” His eyes fell upon his lover laughing as Agron stuck his tongue out at him.

“Ah, I see that he’s still got a thing for his tongue.” Duro grinned and then he paused thinking about what he’d just said. “No, wait, don’t answer that. I really don’t want to know the answer.”

It was Agron who broke his silence with laughter, even though he had been fighting hard for it. “Oh come on Duro, what happened to your sense of adventure, don’t you want to hear all about it.”

Duro closed his eyes before they fell upon the little girl in his lap shaking his head. “Little one, why don’t you go and play with your cousins and your sisters.” He leaned down pressing a kiss to her cheek before he watched her hop from his lap and go off to play before his eyes turned back to his brother not concerned about the conversation affecting Austen. “I am not interested in your sex life, what you do with your tongue in such events is none of my concern and in fact I try not to even think about it ever.”

Nasir was curled within Agron’s arms, his cheeks turning pinker by the moment. “Excuse me, why is it always assumed that he’s the dominant one?”

Duro’s jaw dropped as he looked at the two of them. This was not at all what he had expected, he had hoped that this would be the end of the conversation but instead Nasir had come out with this. “Perhaps because he is the larger of…fuck why are we having this conversation?”

“Cause you started it Duro.” Kat laughed as she adjusted Austen in her lap, taking another brownie and letting the little boy pull at the end of it, taking part of it.

“Well, we know one little boy who will be hyper all night.” Nasir shook his head as he watched the two of them together. “But I’m pretty sure that Kat’s right. Maybe you do need a little one of your own.”

Duro sighed rubbing at his eyes. “No, no, no. I-I couldn’t let Katarina go through something like that again.” He swallowed hard looking at the floor.

“Duro, if you call me Katarina one more time you’ll be sleeping on the couch.” Kat’s eyes fell upon him shaking his head as he did. “I love you to death but really. Besides, I’m fine, honest, as long as I take care of myself, I will be fine from here on out.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that they had to be yours. It could be as simple as adoption or even fostering.” Agron’s eyes fell upon his brother, adjusting his arms around Nasir as he sat forward in the chair. “I know you’ve always wanted a little boy, this is a way to get that, if you’re interested that is. If not then I understand too.” His voice was quiet, trying to make his brother understand that there was more to it then he was seeing.

“I-I…” Duro sighed, his eyes turning to look at Kat.

Somehow her hand found his, fingers wrapping within his own, a smile forming as she looked at him. “Honest, Duro. Crixus found someone to replace me so unless they need someone to fill in, I don’t have the clinic to worry about which means that I’m going to be home more often and I’ll be fine. I, We can do this Duro. Tell me that you don’t really want a little boy, that you haven’t always wanted such, if you can do that then we can forget all about it.” It wasn’t as if any of them didn’t already know this, it was obvious from the way that Duro acted with Derrick and Austen that he truly wanted a boy of his own.

“You know that I couldn’t ever tell you no when it comes to something that you really want, not even if I didn’t want it as well.” Duro’s hand reached out cupping Kat’s cheek, rubbing at it. “We will discuss it later alright?”

Agron nuzzled at the top of Nasir’s head, offering a smile and a laugh as Emma came running again to crawl up in Duro’s lap. “I think she’s taken to you Duro.”

“Mmmm.” Wrapping his arms around the little girl, he pulled her close to him again cuddling her into him as he did. “Ich liebe dich Emma.” The words were a whisper but her eyes lit up hearing them.

“I-I love you too Uncle Duro.”

Agron’s breath caught in his throat. While they had taken the little girl within their family, she had never referred to him as dad, nor Nasir and hearing her call Duro uncle was almost amazing to him. It was even better knowing that she had an understanding of German, but it made him realize how little they really knew about the tiny child and her family. “Alright Miss Emma, it’s time for bed for you girls.”

Duro nodded looking down at the little girl. “Aunt Kat and the girls and I are going to go home so go put your jammies on alright little one?”

“Otay.” Emma pouted as she hopped down off of Duro’s lap, pausing only a minute to hug him before she went to go and do as he asked of her.

Agron simply shook his head as he looked at his brother. “Sometimes I think that she listens better to you than she ever will to us.” He allowed a sigh to slip between his lips as Nasir pulled from his arms and his lap to go and make sure that Emma, Aerlia and Lea were actually getting ready for bed and not still playing. “And I’ll take the little guy from you.”

“Oh.” Kat sounded a little let down as she looked down at the little boy who was yawning in her arms, fighting to keep his eyes open. She hated to let him go but she knew that she had to give him back to Agron. “W-would you mind if I laid him down?”

“Of course not.” While the little boy was truly his, Agron didn’t mind sharing him with his brother and sister-in-law, at least until they decided on what to do about one of their own. “Come on, we’ll get him into his jammies and then tucked into bed.”

Kat nodded pushing herself up from the couch, the little boy cradled against her shoulder as he began to fall asleep. “Duro would you get the girls ready to go please?”

Duro offered only a nod in return, glad to see the woman happy to be here and to be allowed to help out. He knew that Agron was right, there were ways to have a little boy of their own without putting Kat through the trials of pregnancy and maybe it was true that he desperately wanted it. Now what to do was a completely different story, that they would figure out later on, but he was sure that his brother would offer some advice in that department as well.

Following after Kat, Agron couldn’t help but smile watching her with the tiny little boy. It wasn’t long before they both had him in bed and the girls were ready to go to bed and settled in within his crib.

“Good Night Kat.” Nasir offered a grin as he pulled her within his arms.

Duro had clapped his brother on the shoulder, hand wrapped within his brother’s, though he wasn’t surprised to find a piece of paper clasped in his hand, when he pulled it out of Agron’s. Of course it was like Agron to be a little pushy and he was sure that he shouldn’t be surprised by this but he was a little surprised. “Good Night Bruder. Thank you for everything.”

***

“So how much trouble do you think that the woman will manage to get into?” Gannicus ran a hand through his blonde locks, looking across the table to where Agron and Duro had settled in.

“Well since they’re trying to plan a sweet sixteen party, I’m sure probably a lot.” Duro shook his head and laughed. His living room had been turned into a planning committee meeting for the event and as such he had quickly decided to escape, kidnapping Agron in the process. “Speaking of though, your daughter just walked in the door.”

Agron’s eyes turned up from the piece of mail that he’d been reading to look at the young girl, not surprised to see her wander into the shop. She was a lot like Nasir, she had a coffee addiction and she seemed to spend more time here than at home sometimes. “Hey Evs, what’s up?”

“Nothing. Travis is sick, Amelia is with Kai and I guess I wasn’t important enough to call so I figured I’d find something to do.” She tried her hardest not to seem upset but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Gannicus’ head turned patting the chair beside him. “Come sit. Might I interest you in a latte or a mocha while I call my daughter and see what her deal is?”

“The mocha sounds wonderful.” She sank into the chair beside him, her chin coming to rest in her hands as she did. She hated days like this but she didn’t understand how it was possible that her two best friends hadn’t even thought to call her about going out before they had done it and she was a little let down.

“Coming right up.” He set a hand on her shoulder before pressing the phone to his ear. The conversation that ensued was not one that Agron had ever heard before but he was glad to hear that Gannicus was upset that Eva had been left out, though he wondered if they weren’t with the rest of the women trying to plan Eva’s party. In that instance they would need to do some tap dancing but it would be manageable.

Gannicus returned a few minutes later setting a coffee cup in front of her before he sank into the chair beside her again. “Kai feels awful about not calling before they left this morning. She was up and ready before I ever got out of bed and Saxa kidnapped them before she got the chance to call you. However, she did say to tell you that she wanted to go shopping tomorrow for those shoes that you’re looking for.”

Eva nodded as she looked at the man. “Thanks.” Her voice was quiet as she took a sip from the cup in front of her.

“Hey Evs,” Agron grinned sliding money across the table to her. “Why don’t you go to that shop downtown that you’re in love with and see if you cant find the brooch that you’re looking for.”

Eva’s eyes lit up as she looked at the man, a smile forming. It was rare that he gave her money to do anything but when he did, she certainly wouldn’t turn him down.

“I’m sure that if you cant find something there, across the street is the jewelry store. You can probably find something in there that will fit your liking.” Gannicus offered. He knew that at this point they were trying to figure out how to make Eva feel better without telling her what was going on.

“And if you still don’t find something let me know, I might know where to find something for you to wear with your dress.” Duro grinned. There were a lot of things still sitting in a safety deposit box, and he was almost positive that their mother’s brooch was one of them, something that Duro would be more than happy to see the young girl wear.

“Alright, I’m off to see what I cant find.” Eva happily smiled as she looked at the three of them, feeling much better than when she came in. Perhaps her friends had forgotten to call her but she would find something to do instead.

Once the girl was out the door, Agron, Duro and Gannicus exchanged a knowing look, laughter falling between them as they did. “That was close.”

“Kai feels awful about sneaking around behind her back like this.” Gannicus laughed as he looked at the brothers. “But if nothing else once Eva knows what really happened then they will be able to feel better about it.”

“She’ll be fine.” Agron’s eyes turned to look at his brother for a minute. “And don’t think I didn’t realize what you were talking about when you told Eva that you knew where she could find a brooch for her. And I’ve been thinking, what good is mom’s jewelry doing sitting in a security box. We really aught to find a use for it. I’m with you that the girls cant very well take care of it now and part of it will need to stay for that reason but I think it’s time we start going through it again. I know there’s a few pieces that you wanted for Kat, take them. I’m not seeing Nasir wearing a tennis bracelet.”

Gannicus was trying to stifle a laugh at the thought once Agron had said it. “He might, after all he finders gender and accessories to be subjective.”

“Nah, he’s not really into jewelry. Hell I tried buying him a wedding ring and all he wanted was simple."

“What about the girls?” Duro pursed his lips, they had once before had this argument but in order to solve it they had put away the jewelry and not spoken of it since. That was going to stop though; there was no need to fight. Unlike many siblings it wasn’t an argument about who wanted what or who got what but Agron had insisted that Duro deserved it and Duro had often argued that he couldn’t possibly take it.

“I really think that we’ll find something to do with it. As for what about the girls, Eva’s old enough to decide if there’s anything of interest to her. Your girls and the rest of mine are still young but I’m sure that we can figure something out for them. The real question at hand is what should we do with our sperm donor’s ring?” Agron huffed, he refused to call him his father after all that he had done to them and his mother.

“Well, I think that Nasir should have it. I know that you don’t really like him, but it’s an heirloom. You could give it to Austen as well.” Duro was beginning to babble now unable to decide what he really wanted to say, his eyes turning to Gannicus as if looking for the man to save him.

“You might as well stumble on.” Gannicus grinned his eyes falling over the brothers. Eventually you’ll come across a point, however until then it is rather entertaining listening to you.”

“You’re right; I don’t have any love for our father.” Agron shook his head thinking about it. “When Nasir and I got married I thought about giving it to him, but it just didn’t feel right then. Now, well I don’t know what I really feel about it.” In truth, he wanted to give it to him, yet he didn’t know how Nasir would feel about it. “I mean, our sperm donor isn’t exactly my favorite person in the world, in fact, it’s the exact opposite but yet I know how long that ring has been in the family, one of us aught to put it to use and you’ve already decided to state that before so that leaves me. As long as Nasir would like it, I can deal with that.”

“See it’s settled then. And you’re right, I would like Kat to have the tennis bracelet and there’s probably a couple of other things but we can work through that. Kore broke some interesting news to Kat and I this morning.” Duro shook his head. “Fuck I wish it was different.”

“What’s the matter?” Gannicus’ eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Duro. The woman had quickly become like family to all of them, her kind heart, quick wit and a smile made her easy enough to get along with. If something had happened to her, it was possible that he would have to track down whomever had done it to her and make her pay.

“Well I guess she broke up with the guy she was seeing.” Duro sighed closing his eyes for a minute as he did. “However that’s not the part that bothers me, the part that bothers me is that he broke up with her because she told him that she’s pregnant.”

Agron winced at the thought. “Poor thing, how’s she doing?” He could only imagine that the answer was that she wasn’t doing well but he was trying to be optimistic.

Gannicus’ face scrunched up as he looked at man, eyes widening as he leaned back in the chair. “Bastard.” The word was muttered not in question but as a statement, he felt as though the guy didn’t deserve the title of man and couldn’t imagine either brother being more happy after their history with their own father.

“She was pretty shook up this morning but she’s trying to hide it from the girls. I think Annie’s figured out that something isn’t right since they normally have breakfast together and Kore was too upset to this morning.” Duro sighed rubbing at his eyes. “I-I….god I dunno what to do.” He had taken the woman in as his friend and for the first time he didn’t know what to do to help her. “She’s not sure that she wants to keep the young one but she cant bring herself to….” Duro couldn’t even say it, though he was sure that they both understood.

“Well, maybe if it’s a little boy you can find it in your heart to take him in.” Agron grinned like a mad hatter, he would do anything to help her out as would Duro but it was possible this was the answer to both of their problems. Kore would be able to watch the young one grow without the stress of trying to raise it on her own and Duro the satisfaction of a little boy to love and care for as if he was his own.

Duro merely rolled his eyes. “We both know it has nothing to do with finding it in my heart but with what she has to say about it all. Now did you want to go to the bank or what?”

“Yea, sounds good. We can go back to my place. Ganni you coming?” His eyes turned to the Celt across the table who was beginning to growl, still upset over what had happened to the woman, it made Agron wonder if it was safe to leave him alone or not.

“Yea, yea I’ll be there, I hate going home to an empty house and I’m not sure that I can deal with the estrogen at Duro’s, so yea, yea your house sounds good. Nasir there?”

“Yup, he was going to get the girls through their baths this morning and then something about putting up the pool in the back yard and there was a list. If he’s not in the house check the backyard.” Agron rubbed at his eyes trying to figure out how he was going to give him the ring, it would take some thought but he was sure that there was a way.

***

“You want me to what?” Nasir’s face scrunched up as his fingers ran over the ring on his hand.

“I want you to take your ring off.” It was something that Agron couldn’t really remember Nasir doing very often since he’d put it there so many years before and he knew that Nasir would argue with him if he didn’t explain to him what this was about.

“But…but…are you no longer in love?” Nasir’s expression broke Agron’s heart. Gannicus and Duro could be heard in the living room with the young girls laughter following. Yet to Nasir it all seemed rather distant now, he couldn’t understand why Agron would do something like this.

“Nasir, it is nothing like that.” Agron carefully took his hand within both of his, before he slipped the ring off of his hand, offering a smile as he looked up at him. “I have something that I wish for you to have.” Though it was still hard for Agron to think about what the ring really meant to him, he felt better knowing that Nasir would continue on with the family’s history.

“Please explain Agron. First you ask me to remove my ring and now you’re talking about wanting to give me something.” Closing his eyes, Nasir sighed. While Agron had promised him it wasn’t that he didn’t love him anymore, he didn’t know what this could possibly be about.

Agron laughed softly taking the ring from his pocket. “With this ring, I take thee.” The words were hardly audible as he slipped the ring onto Nasir’s hand a smile forming upon his lips as he did. “I want you to have this.”

“W-what is it?” Nasir was confused, his finger tips running over the gold, feeling the smooth metal under his fingers. “I thought we decided that we weren’t replacing them?”

“We aren’t. It was my father’s.” Agron allowed a sigh to slip between his lips. “He hardly ever wore it but it has been in the family for years now and I thought it was only right that someone keep it in the family. If you decide that you don’t want to keep it I understand and we can keep it for Austen or whatever, but if you want to wear it, I would be honored.”

“O-oh my.” Nasir’s expression changed, a smile forming upon his lips as he looked down at the man who held his heart. “Of course I would wear it, but why didn’t you just come out and say that from the beginning? I would have gladly done so.”

“I-I wasn’t sure what you would say if you knew that it was my fathers.” Agron’s eyes turned to the floor in front of him as he eyed the man’s feet thinking about it. “Duro suggested it a long time ago and I just wasn’t ready to deal with it and I guess I finally am now.”

Instead of making a statement, Nasir leaned his head down pressing a kiss to his lips. “I love you Agron, remember that because anything else would be a lie.” His eyes turned as Gannicus came through with Lea on a hip, Aerlia and Emma chasing after him in their swim suits.

“Just passing through, try not to let us bother your make out session.” Gannicus offered a grin over his shoulder before he opened the back door letting the girls out before he followed with Lea.  

Nasir simply shook his head, wrapping his arms around Agron, slinking into his lap. “Your brother must still have Austen.”

“Mmmm.” Agron sighed as he looked down at the man in his arms. “It’s a really long story but let’s just suffice to say that he might have a boy of his own sooner than he anticipated and I think he’s just trying to get used to the idea.”

“I wont bother to ask because I know that you would tell me if it was important that I know. Just tell me that he’s ok?”

“Yea, he’s fine other than a little upset.” Agron grinned wrapping his arms tighter around Nasir. “So what do you think little man, should we go get the little guy and see how he feels about the pool with his sisters?"


	14. Chapter 14

“Sounds good to me.” Nasir nodded as he got out of Agron’s lap, taking his hands within his own. “Come on.”

Following after him Agron laughed as he peeked over Nasir’s shoulder looking at Duro and the little boy. He was trying to make the little boy laugh instead of fussing since Austen was not impressed by the heat of the house. “He’s a sweet little guy but he hates the heat, so we were just going to kidnap the little guy and see if he’s interested in the wading pool with the girls.”

Duro simply nodded handing Austen over to Agron. “Hey baby boy, you want to go play in the water?” Adjusting Austen to his hip, Agron offered a smile to the little boy as he moved towards the nursery in order to get him changed. It was a few minutes later when he returned with the little boy who now wore his swimmers, happily giggling at the warm air against his bare skin. “Tell Uncle Duro to come on, and we’ll go play in the water.”

“Tell daddy that one of these nights Uncle Duro’s kidnapping the hot tub.” Duro laughed tickling at Austen’s tiny little feet.

“I told you that you could use it whenever you wanted to.” Agron shrugged heading for the back door, pausing a minute to look at his shoes before he decided against them and slid open the glass door. A laugh slipped between his lips as he looked at his backyard. “Nasir, I thought you said you were putting in a wading pool?”

“Well, I did and then I got to thinking about it and it wasn’t big enough for all the kids and I got to thinking about Eva and Derrick and well ya know somehow we ended up with a larger one as well.” Nasir’s eyes turned to where Gannicus was sitting on the pool ladder, feet dangling within the water as Lea, Aerlia and Emma happily splashed and swam about. “Besides it’s not like the girls aren’t little fish after the time at the lake and we’re always out here with them so it will work out. However there is a wading pool for the little guy until we get him in the pool and swimming.”

“Hey Gannicus!” Duro called, causing the Celt to look at him eyebrows raised as if he already anticipated what was coming from him.

Probably more heckling he supposed. That was the way that Duro was most of the time but it was possible that he would get different. “Yea?”

“You know you kinda remind me of that cute blonde life guard from Baywatch.” Duro grinned, eyes wide open as he laughed, however his expression changed as Lea slapped him with a wall of water. “Hey!” He laughed as he looked at her.

“Leave Uncle Gannicus awone.” Her voice was determined as she looked up at him as if trying to make him afraid of her. “He woves us and you so bes nice to him!”

Agron was trying to stifle his laughed as he sat beside the wading pool, Austen’s little hands wrapped around his fingers as he played in the water as if he was unsure of what to do in the water. “It’s ok little guy.” His voice was gentle as if trying to reassure him that it really would be ok.

Gannicus on the other hand was grinning at Duro. It was obvious that he was plotting something but neither Nasir nor Agron really wanted to know what he was planning but Eva came through the back door before they ever got the chance to ask. “What’s the matter Little One?” He paused though realizing how much he sounded like Saxa, gods maybe living with her wasn’t good for him.

Eva paused her eyes falling upon Gannicus before she shrugged. “I didn’t really find anything that I liked.” With a dramatic sigh she sank to the grass.

“I told you I knew where one was.” Duro shook his head. “And something tells me that you’ll like it.” He wanted to make her feel better and his mother had always had exquisite taste in jewelry, and his father for the better part had always bought her exactly what she wanted when it came to jewelry. Of course that was probably because he was trying to make up for all the time that he had beaten her but as young kids he and Agron had never aware of such. “It’s in the living room if you’re interested in seeing it.”

“Yea, I’d love to see it.” Eva looked up at him. “I want to look awesome for this wedding but I can’t find a brooch to hold my jacket closed that I like.” Pushing herself to her feet again she stood patiently waiting for him to indicate what to do.

“Wedding? Is Ganni finally settling down?” Duro was teasing of course but he had often wondered if Gannicus and Saxa would ever do such a thing.

“Not likely.” Gannicus shook his head as Emma pulled at his leg complaining that she was cold. Moving himself backwards, he helped the little girl up the ladder before wrapping her in a towel. “I love her to death but I don’t really see the reason to change things. We’re happy just the way that we are.

“Come on Emma, I’ll help you to get dressed.” Nasir offered a smile, taking the little girl in his arms laughing as she tried to drip water from her hair onto him.

“I’m just giving you a hard time.” Duro shook his head before his eyes turned to Eva once more. “Come on, we’ll go inside and take a look at that brooch huh?”

“Alright, sounds good.” Eva offered a smile as she looked at him.

Gannicus watched the four of them disappear before his eyes turned to Agron. “Your brother has a death wish today I see?” He moved closer to the man as he began to speak.

“Duro’s in a good mood, but honestly you just have to put him back in his place every now and then.”

“Oh, believe me, if he pushes it once more and he’s liable to get put back across the room.” Gannicus sighed as he looked at Agron. “Sorry, been a rough week. Sibyl’s been sick and Saxa’s been trying to take care of the stables and all the other stuff that needs to be done so she hasn’t been home much. I just need some downtime I guess.”

“You know you’re always welcome here.” Agron offered a smile as Austen finally let go of his hands, his eyes turning to look at the two young girls who were playing in the pool. “And Duro can be a pain in the ass but you can also always slap him upside the back of the head and move on with your day.”

Sweet little Austen had moved across the pool, tugging at Gannicus’ pant leg as if trying to get his attention for a moment as he looked at him. “What’s up little guy?”

As if in answer Austen scooped up a handful of water before he threw it at Gannicus’ leg.

“Well if he isn’t the cutest little thing. Although he has Saxa’s personality when it comes to trouble, he does remind me of you though too.” Gannicus had known Agron for years now and he knew that he had a trouble streak in him as well.

Agron was about to speak when Nasir’s holler from the back door surprised him. “Lea, Aery, it’s time for lunch. Come on in and get dressed so that you can eat.” He laughed watching the girls scamper out grabbing their towels and wrapping up before they brushed past Nasir headed to go get dressed once more.

“You want me to bring Austen in too?” Agron’s eyes turned from Gannicus to his lover.

“If you want to. He’s not big on pasta yet so I’m going to find something for him but if you want to bring him in and get him changed then that’s an option as well.” Nasir’s tone was gentle as he spoke to him. “Gannicus you interested in staying for lunch? There’s plenty here to eat. It’s a little nontraditional but it’s chicken alfredo none the less.”

“Sounds good.” Gannicus could never turn down a meal that Nasir had cooked; it was an unspoken rule of his. Then again that was probably because Saxa did all the cooking since Gannicus could burn water but that probably came from sleeping through most of his cooking classes in college.

“Come on little guy.” Agron grinned wrapping Austen up in a towel before he scooped him up in his arms holding him close to him. “You feel better now? Huh? Much cooler?”

“You know Agron, you sound like you’ve been whipped.” Gannicus grinned as he looked at his friend walking with him towards the house. “Not that I’m complaining or anything, there’s no one else I would want to be in a business partnership with but I feel you need to know that.”

“Yea I’ve heard that before.” Agron laughed as he looked at him. “You’ve told me, Duro loves to tell me. I think that Crixus delights in telling me the exact same thing. However, he’s my sweet little boy and I wouldn’t do anything in the world to make him upset.”

“Except to help him to get dressed.” Gannicus grinned opening the door. He was sure that the little boy would fuss, that he would scream and cry once he had clothes on again but he also knew that there had to be a way to get him dressed and not have to listen to him cry.

“Come on little guy.” Agron grinned leaning his head down to press a kiss to the top of his head before he headed down the hallway to get him dressed once more.

“Something I can do?” Gannicus asked, eyes running over Nasir as he did.

“Sure, you can grab a plate and help yourself.” Aerlia, Emma and Lea were settled in at the table happily eating while Duro and Eva were in the living room discussing jewelry over lunch. “You can eat wherever you’d like.”

“Come sits with us Uncle Gannicus.” Lea’s eyes turned up to look at the Celt before turned back to her lunch.

“Well, who am I to turn down such a pretty girl for a lunch date?” Gannicus grinned as he started to fix a plate. “Nasir have I mentioned that I love meals at your house? You always take things into consideration, including the garlic bread to go with Chicken Alfredo.”

“You’ve mentioned it once or twice Gannicus but thanks.” Nasir couldn’t help but laugh as he looked at the man still grinning as he looked at him. “I’m used to the way that it was at home with mom and it’s hard to break that once it’s ingrained into you I guess.”

“I love it when you and daddy cook.” Aerlia smiled happily.

“Thanks baby girl.”

***

“So how are the birthday party plans coming along?” Nasir was sitting across the table from Kat. She’d invited him to come over and discuss a few things with her since she’d gotten out of work early and was having a little bit of trouble trying to do some of the planning.

“They’re going alright. Everyone has their own task to take care of but I just cant figure out a couple of things. I know that Eva knows that she’s been adopted and all of that but she has taken you and Agron in as her own family and Chadara posed a question that I wanted to answer. She asked me if Eva knows anything about her family.” Kat knew that it was a sensitive subject and she didn’t want to step on toes but in order to pose the next question she needed to know this answer.

“She knows what she remembers, otherwise she hasn’t wanted to know anything about them. Why do you ask?” Nasir was confused by the question.

“Well we just wondered if maybe there was a part of her family that she knew that she would want to be there but I guess that answers that question.” Kat weakly smiled. She was trying her hardest to pretend as if she wasn’t saddened by the news.

“Considering that I had a brother I didn’t know about, I know what you’re getting at but I cant make her ask about her family or want to know anything about them.” Nasir’s eyes met Kat, he really did understand but he couldn’t force the young girl into wanting to know about something that she didn’t already want to know.

“I just….I guess I wanted to make sure that she doesn’t really want to have anything to do with them I guess. I mean I know that her parents weren’t the best and they aren’t around anymore but I always wondered if she had siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, I just don’t want her to feel like she missed out on something in her life.” Kat sighed as she looked at him.

“No siblings that we’re aware of, no aunts or uncles or cousins either. Her grandmother is somewhere, CPS tried to contact her but she never returned the call and has never tried to see Eva. If Eva really wanted to see her, or she wanted to see Eva, we’d gladly let it happen but neither has happened.” Nasir shook his head. “It was driving him nuts, he couldn’t understand why the woman wouldn’t want anything to do with her but then again maybe there was more to the story he supposed.

“Speaking of, where’s Eva hiding out today?”

“She went to the barn and then she was going to stop in and see if there was anything she could do to help Kore out with the girls but since you’re home maybe I aught to just let her know it’s fine?” He figured that Kat would have a fit about the young girl trying to help.

“No, she’s welcome to come here if she wants to. The girls will enjoy seeing her I’m sure and maybe she’ll be able to distract Kore for awhile.” Kat sighed shaking her head. “She hasn’t been herself lately, and I know why, I just, I wish I could do something to help.”

Nasir was about to speak when Kore bustled through with groceries. “Oh, I’m sorry to bother you. I didn’t figure that you’d be home yet.”

“It’s alright.” Kat smiled as she looked up at her. “Would you like some help putting those away?”

“Oh, no, I’ve got it but thanks. I’ll get them put away and then go get the girls from school, unless you’d like to get them instead.” Nasir was surprised that Kore seemed so shy; it was hardly her normal personality. “Oh, hello Nasir.”

“Hey. Eva’s stopping by to give you a hand with the girls when she gets out of school. I think she wanted to bake tonight.” He was hoping that maybe it would help to bring her out of the depression that she’d been in as of late. Duro’d stopped the night before to talk to Agron out of frustration. All he wanted was to see her happy again and he was worried about her, which was part of why Nasir had stopped in.

“Oh, alright.” The nod that Kore offered, granted no comfort to his worried feelings and from the look on Kat’s face it was obvious that she wasn’t feeling any better about it.

“Kore?” Nasir’s voice was gentle as he spoke. He watched as she tensed up at the sound of his voice, heart breaking for the woman.

“Yes?” She paused as she looked at Nasir, her eyes falling upon the floor as she stood there looking like a child in trouble.

Pushing himself from the chair that he was sitting in Nasir held his hands out for the bags. “Let me help you.” He offered a warm smile, hoping that maybe she would open up to him.

“Thank you.” Kore allowed him to take most of the bags from her before she followed him into the kitchen.

“You’re more than welcome. “ Nasir grinned as he settled the bags upon the counter in the kitchen. “The kids have been begging for me to invite you over to spend some time.”

“Oh, I miss them too.” Kore offered a weak smile as he looked at him. “I promise, my next day off I’ll stop in and see them.”

“Oh, no,no. That’s not necessary, you’re going to be busy trying to do everything for the little one and you’ll need time to yourself.” Nasir set a hand upon her shoulder lightly. “Are you alright?”

“I-I…” Kore paused, the box of cereal she was going to put away still in her hand before she looked up at him, tears in her eyes as she looked at him. “No, I wish I could say that I was but this is just more than I can handle right now. I was excited when I found out about the baby but when Martin left, I just I don’t know that I can do this on my own.”

Nasir allowed a laugh to slip between his lips before he moved to her side, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. “Kore, honey, you’re never going to be alone in anything. You’ve always got Duro and Kat, and Agron and I and so many other people. We are always here for you, remember that.”

“Kore I….oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Kat froze in the door way. “I was just going to let you know that I was going to get the girls from school. Well Karlee and Faith anyways, Annie won’t be home until later on the bus but you know that.”

“Alright, thank you.” Kore sniffled as she nodded. She knew that the young girls’ preschool would be getting out soon and it was normal that she met them unless Kat was home like she was today. “I’ll finish getting this stuff put away and get a snack ready for them.”

“Good.” Kat offered before she grabbed her keys off the counter. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off after that? I’ll keep an eye on the girls while you and Eva bake and you can take a nice warm bubble bath and relax.” She would do anything to see her happy again and this seemed like a good start.

“Oh, no, the girls will want to help and really I enjoy spending time with them so it’s not a hassle. Thank you though, I know I haven’t been myself lately, your patience means more to me then you’ll ever know it does.” Kore smiled as she looked at the woman who was not only her boss but she was becoming her friend as well. “I will be fine, Nasir is here after all and I’m sure that he wont allow anything happen.”

Kat offered a nod before she started out the door. “I’ll be back shortly.” She called over her shoulder knowing that what the woman had said was true. Nasir would allow no harm to come to the child and its’ mother after all.

“Thank you Nasir.” Kore offered as she wriggled from his arms returning to putting things away. “I guess I was so caught up in what I was experiencing that I didn’t even stop to consider what was really going on outside of those parameters.”

“No problem at all.” Nasir offered as he began to help her to put things away again. “We will always be here to help you out no matter what happens, you’re family now even if you don’t like it and that means that we love you and we worry. Just like we would if it was Agron or Duro.”

“Thank you. I-I just need to figure out what I want to do. Kat and Duro have offered to take the young one in if I should decide I don’t want to but…I just…it’s a lot to take in at once. I mean I went from happy to upset to confused and that was just in a day.”

“Would you do me a favor while Eva’s here though?” Nasir hated to ask but he was afraid that the young girl wouldn’t tell him the truth if he asked her.

“What’s that?”

“Kat asked earlier if Eva knew anything about her birth family. I’ve tried talking to her about it, as has Agron but she hates talking about it. I guess what I’m asking is, would you see if there’s anything that she wants to know? I know it sounds pathetic that I have to ask someone else to do it but, I almost feel like she feels that asking us would be like insulting us after we took her into our lives and adopted her as our own.”

“ Yea, I can see what I can do, but I wont promise anything.” Kore paused hearing the front door open. “That you Eva?”

“Yea, I take it dads still here?” Eva called back from down the hall where she was taking her backpack off as well as her shoes. She knew how hard Kore worked to keep things clean and as such she tried her hardest to help with that as well.

“Yea, I’m still here.” Nasir laughed. “Your Aunts home too, she just went to go get yours cousins from school though. She should be here soon.”

“Do you think that we could make cookies?” Eva asked as she pulled up a chair at the counter, her eyes falling upon Kore. She loved to cook with her father but at the same time the young girl longed to have a female influence as well, and she often sought such in Kore.

 “Sure, just let me finish this and get a couple of apples cut up for Karlee and Faith and then we can do that.” The woman offered a smile as she looked upon the young girl. She understood what she was going through, her own father had been a single parent after her mother had died when she was young and as such she’d never really had a mother figure which had made growing up that much harder for her and if she could help Eva out then she would. “You want an apple?”

“Yes please.” Eva offered hopping down off the stool she’d been sitting on before she moved to the fridge pulling one out before she washed it off happily munching at it.

“So did your dad tell you the good news?” Kore asked as she finished putting away the groceries and moved to pull a couple of apples out of the fridge for the girls. While she hadn’t really told anyone before now, Nasir’s words had made her feel a little better. She had always considered them as a part of her family and she did love them as such and knowing that they did the same made her feel much better and she was sure that Eva would be excited if she hadn’t already heard about the babe.

“No, I figured that I’d let you tell her, it’s your good news after all.” Nasir grinned leaning against the counter. It had been Kore’s good news after all, what was the sense in ruining her fun by telling the young girl?

“What’s going on?” Eva asked confused as she crunched away at her apple, her confusion showing as she looked from one to the other. Nasir had said that it was good news which made her feel a little better but she was confused as to why Kore hadn’t gone on to speak yet.

“Well, it looks like there will be another young one in the house.” She was sure that Eva could piece together what this meant for her and as such she was waiting on her reaction.

“Really?” Eva asked, eyes going wide as she began to smile before she moved across the room wrapping her arms around Kore. “That’s great, I miss babies.” The pout that adorned her lips made Nasir laugh, the girl had said this many times now since Austen had begun to toddle around the house but Nasir had no intentions to hear the pitter patter of little feet of their own for awhile yet, so he was sure that this would make her happy.

Though Kore still wasn’t sure what she was going to do, maybe she would allow Kat and Duro to take the child, perhaps she would raise it on her own but the one thing that she knew for sure was that she wanted it to be raised around these people. She wanted the very people who had taken her in as family when they didn’t have to, to be around the babe as well.

“Alright, I’m going to let you guy have your fun.” Nasir laughed picking up his keys from the counter, after all he had stopped to see Kat about Eva’s party and he knew that with the girl in the house they wouldn’t get anything else figured out so it made sense to give them their space. “You want me to take your backpack with me Evs?”

“Yea, if you don’t mind please.” Eva offered a smile over her shoulder watching the man disappear. There was something else going on here, that much she knew but she hadn’t figured out what yet, all she hoped was that it had nothing to do with her own family and their happiness.

“So, I hear your birthday is coming up hey?” Kore asked as she finished cutting up the apples she had taken out of the fridge, setting the plate on the table for the girls before she returned to where Eva was now standing. The truth was she wanted the girl to feel as comfortable with them as she could, and knew she’d have to if she was going to ask her about her life before Nasir and Agron.

“Yea, but I really don’t want anyone to make a big fuss about it. I mean it’s not really a big deal or anything.” Eva shrugged as she looked at her.

“Of course it’s a big deal Eva. You’re turning 16, you can finally drive, you’re becoming a woman in so many ways, and it marks 10 years with Agron and Nasir doesn’t it?” Kore asked leaning on the kitchen counter as she took the girl’s hand within her own. “That’s a pretty big thing if you ask me.”

“They are the only family I have ever known after all.” Eva sighed at the thought. She didn’t normally speak of such things but it was true, this was a large milestone for her and she almost felt like she had to for one reason or another. “My mother and father, they had me, they kept me alive but otherwise they couldn’t have cared less about me. They were too busy getting drunk or high, and I remember the people at the agency telling me they’d tried calling my grandmother but they couldn’t get a hold of me. I guess I wasn’t good enough for her or something, I don’t really know why she never called back.”

“Oh, Eva, I’m sure it was nothing like that.” Kore’s voice was quiet as she spoke. “You’re a beautiful young girl, you’re smart, funny, a great friend. I don’t know what anyone else could ask for out of a child. It truly is her loss.” Though the words were true, Kore couldn’t help wondering if maybe there was more to the story. Perhaps her grandmother had been sick? Was there a fight that made her not want to take in the young girl? “Though, I’m sure if you wanted to know if that was still how she felt, if you asked your Dads, they’d help you find her and see if she’d like to see you.”

“I-I….” Eva paused as she thought about it. “don’t know how I feel about that. She turned me away once and I’m not sure that I could handle a second time at this point.” The young girl had been hurt by the way that things had happened and Kore knew that she would have trouble seeing around that but if there was something that she could do for her, she would.

“You know, I just said the same thing about something to your dad and you know what he told me?” Kore smiled setting a hand upon Eva’s shoulder, eyes drifting over her face as she spoke. “He told me that we are all family and no matter what happens, we’re going to be there for you.”

Eva’s eyes turned up from the counter as Karlee and Faith came bustling in the door, with Kat following at their heels. “Oh, hello Eva, did your dad leave already?”

“Yea, Dad’s feeling kind of under the weather again and he was going to pick Lea up from school and then help him with Austen.” Eva shrugged. She hated it when Agron was sick but there was nothing that she could do if he refused to take care of himself as he so often did.

“You know your father.” Kat smiled. “His brother is the same way, if they can do for someone, they will but they often don’t understand that they need to take care of themselves too. You’re welcome to stay here if you’d like to, I know that you stopped to see Kore but the girls love if when you come to visit.”

“Thank you.” Eva offered a smile. “I think they’re done with their snack we’re going to make cookies if they want to help. That is if you don’t mind us borrowing the kitchen.”

“Oh, of course not Eva. You practically live here, you are family. Do whatever you’d like to.” 


	15. Chapter 15

***

“Daddy!” Lea giggled as she crawled up on the bed, beside Agron. “Would you like to plays sorry with me?” Austen had laid down for his nap and while Agron still wasn’t quite himself, he felt better than he had.

“Yea, sure.” Agron offered a smile as he looked at her. “You want to go get it?”

“Otay.” She hopped off the bed, going to get the game before she came scampering back, crawling up on the bed. They played every day while Austen took his nap and even when Agron was asleep there was no exception even now.

“Did you ask dad if he wanted to play too?” Agron could only imagine that the little girl had forgotten to ask him as she wasn’t used to Nasir being home yet.

“Yep, I was just finishing up what I was doing in the kitchen.” Nasir offered sinking to the end of the bed. “So who’s going to be what color?”

“I wanna be blue!” Lea happily grinned. Of course, they had already known that since she always wanted to be blue but still the question always came.

“Guess that makes me yellow.” Nasir laughed as Agron began to pull the green pieces out of the box.

“You feel betters daddy?” Lea asked once all of her pieces were placed upon the board and she waited for Nasir to finish shuffling the cards.

“I feel better baby girl, other than this headache.” Agron offered a smile at the young girl. She was always a worrier; no matter what happened to the little girl she worried about everyone else. “But I’ll be fine sweetheart.”

“Otay daddies.” Lea giggled, her feet hanging off the edge of the bed, happily dangling as she kicked her little feet.

“Careful, if you aren’t, you might kick Layla and she wouldn’t be very happy if you do that.” Nasir laughed, he hated to ruin the little girl’s fun and he knew the worst Layla would do was growl but that didn’t mean that she should do it.

“She’s laying over here beside the bed.” A glance over his shoulder told Agron that the dog was looking up at him as if trying to figure out why the bed was so crowded and she couldn’t be up there too. Leaning over he reached down to pet the dog’s head. “You’ve been up here all day, just you, me and the little man so you can lay down there for a little while.”

Layla let out a dramatic sigh before she settled back in on the floor, though her tail still wagged.

“It’s your turn daddy.” It took Agron a minute to realize that she was talking to him before his eyes turned to look at her.

 “Did you manage to get a piece out while I wasn’t looking?” He knew the answer but he asked anyways, teasing as he always did.

“Uh huh, and daddy still couldn’t get ones out either so yous not alones.” Sometimes Agron wondered if Nasir let her win but even if he did, he couldn’t say that he blamed him. She was always so cute when she played, so happy go lucky and there wasn’t a thing that could possibly ruin her spirits it seemed.

“See what happens when you aren’t paying attention?” Derrick’s voice surprised them all, Agron’s eyes turned up to look at him.

“Hey you, I thought you were going to hang out with Brice this afternoon?”

“Dad, no one uses hang out anymore.” Derrick rolled his eyes sinking to the bed between Nasir and Lea. “Anyways, Saxa kidnapped him, she needed help at the barn, so I’m here again.”

“We just started playing, you want to play? I’m sure that Lea wouldn’t mind if you joined us.” Nasir knew that she wouldn’t as the young girl loved her older brother and in fact she adored him and loved spending time with him.

“I no mind, daddys taking forevers today anyways.” Lea huffed, her irritation evident.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” Agron laughed as he played, his eyes turning up to look at Derrick. “You want to play?”

“Yea, I’ll play I guess.” Derrick grabbed the pieces from the box before settling into the empty spot before taking a card. “Well, I guess I won’t be moving this turn so that makes it yours Lea.”

The game went on for awhile, small talk passing between them as they continued forward. They talked about Derrick’s grades, the school that Lea would be going to next year, and many other things in between. They were just finishing up as Austen began to coo and babble in his crib announcing that he was awake and that he didn’t want to be left there all by himself.

“I’ve got him.” Nasir pressed himself up moving from the bed, returning a minute later with the tiny boy. “You’re such a good little boy aren’t you.”

As if in answer, Austen began to babble again.

“So what sounds good for dinner?” Nasir would willingly cook, but he wanted some input from the rest of the household as to what they were eating.

“Food sounds good. How about something simple like sandwiches?” Agron leaned on his elbows holding his hands out for Austen.

“Sounds good.” Derrick nodded as he looked at him.

“I wants a PB&J.” Lea grinned, her little feet kicking once more as she watched them all.

Nasir couldn’t help but laugh as he watched the tiny girl shaking his head. “You always want a PB&J Lea, I can ask you what type of pasta you want and you’d tell me that you wanted a PB&J.”

“Sos? Does that means I have to picks something else?”

“No, I’ll make you your Peanut Butter and Jelly if that’s really what you want.” He knew that Derrick would make himself something to eat, Austen would probably share part of his sandwich and Agron might eat if he felt up to it. “You want me to make you something baby?”

“I’ll get up and get something shortly.” Agron was beginning to feel as though he’d been trapped here in bed all day and was beginning to feel the need to get up and move about so that he could make it go away.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Nasir allowed a sigh to slip between his lips, in truth all he really wanted to do was to make him feel better but instead Agron was trying to fight him.

***

“Are you sure that you’re feeling better?” Nasir nuzzled at Agron’s neck as he lay beside him on the bed.

“I feel much better Nasir it was probably just a twenty-four hour bug or something.” A smile formed upon his lips as he wrapped his arms around Nasir. “So much better so that I’m glad that the kids are asleep.”

“Oh yea?”

“Yea, that is unless there’s something that you want to talk about of course.”

“Nope, nothing that I can think of.” Nasir squirmed as Agron’s lips pulled at his ear, teeth scraping over the tender flesh of the lobe. It was a feeling that Agron knew that he loved no matter how many times he felt it. “Oh…” The man’s whimper was hard to mistake as he pressed his hands against Agron’s chest, fingers wrapping in the fabric of Agron’s t-shirt.

“What’s the matter baby?” Agron’s voice was teasing, voice a deep husky whisper as his breath tickled against his earlobe.

“A-are you sure that you’re feeling up to this?” While Nasir would certainly not turn him down if he was sure, he would seek reassurance that it was truly what Agron wanted.

“I feel fine other than this aching that I cant seem to get rid of.” As if to emphasize his point, he thrust his cock against Nasir’s hand.

“Well, I’m sure that I can help with that, I mean if you’re sure that this is really what you want.” Nasir’s hands began to undo the buttons on Agron’s shirt. “Just tell me what it is that you want, and I will be more than happy to give it to you.”

“Should I take that as you want to take control tonight?” A smile played at Agron’s lips as he settled back in against the bed. He wanted so badly to turn Nasir over and ravish him but if Nasir wanted to go slow and be in control then he would allow him to do exactly that.

“Mmmm…just lay here on your back and relax and I’ll make you feel real good baby.” Nasir growled, rolling so that he was straddling Agron’s hips, his hand pressing away the shirt that lay upon his skin before his hands moved to the buttons on Agron’s jeans.

The touch of Nasir’s fingers brushing across Agron’s abdomen made him twist and wriggle. “Fuck the Gods….” Agron fought with himself to keep his voice down and to avoid moaning. They had never managed to wake the kids which made him feel much better but that didn’t mean that it was any easier to do.

“There, there.” Nasir grinned, his hands coming to rest upon Agron’s hips. “Just keep your voice down and I’ll keep going.”

Agron decided on the best way to solve the problem and leaned up, his lips meeting Nasir’s as Nasir returned to removing his jeans, a moan escaping his lips but it was lost within the warmth of Argon’s mouth. Meanwhile Agron’s fingers fumbled with Nasir’s t-shirt trying to force it up over his head, pulling away only long enough to pull it over top of his head.

It wasn’t long before they both lay within one another’s arms, clothing tossed about the room with no care for where they had ended up. Instead they were busy caring about one another, the feeling of the other’s skin pressed against their own, grinding, sliding and pressing into one another.

Nasir finally settled over Agron again though, his finger tips running up the man’s arms, before he ran them down his torso, his lips coming to meet them at his belly button, lips playing with the hair at his belly button. “You ready?” Dark eyes turned up to look at Agron, waiting for him to answer. He would never press further than Agron wanted him to and he was almost positive that Agron wanted this but even knowing that he wouldn’t continue on without his consent.

“Please.” Agron’s whimper was followed by his hands coming to rest upon the back of Nasir’s head, willing him to go on. “Gods please Nasir. I-I cant wait much longer.” Though he would probably never know exactly what it was, there was something about Nasir that always spurred him forward and he was beyond turned on at this point.

A chuckle slipped between Nasir’s lips as he continued lower. “You’re sure about this?” He teased, his warm breath brushing against Agron’s cock as he awaited an answer, though he knew it would push Agron ever closer. He wanted the man to feel amazing tonight and nothing less.

“Just do it Nasir, please.” Agron’s voice was breathy as he spoke, hips thrusting towards Nasir. “If you tease much longer it will be awful for both of us.”

Offering a nod Nasir lowered his head, taking Agron’s cock between his lips, tongue swirling around the length of him, bobbing his head, urged forward by the sound of Agron’s whines and whimpers. His hands reached out to still Agron’s hips though before he pulled his head away, allowing the man’s length to slip from between his lips. “Easy baby. Let’s not get ourselves too worked up all at once now.”

“Too late for that.” Agron reached down pulling Nasir up over top of him, before he rolled them both over so that he was now straddling him. “Now it’s your turn to relax.”

While normally he would allow Nasir to be in control if that was really what he wanted, tonight he need him. He needed to be in control, to see the look of utter bliss upon Nasir’s lips as he reached his climax before he reached his own.

“Please Agron, please.” Nasir’s voice was airy, his lust obvious as his eyes were half hooded, as if he were about to fall asleep but instead he was trying his hardest not to jump Agron and press him against the bed.

“Easy Nasir.” Agron couldn’t help laughing as his lips found the man’s neck again but it was short lived as the phone began to ring. “Fuck.” Agron muttered as he raised his head to reach over and grab the phone before he pressed the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Aggie…look…I’m sorry…” Duro was rambling and that worried Agron, normally he would chastise his brother for interrupting but he couldn’t do that when he was like this.

“Easy Duro, calm down.” Agron settled in beside Nasir, leave it to his brother to be a kill joy, and yet he couldn’t be mad at him and he knew that Nasir couldn’t either. “What’s up?”  Agron’s eyes went wide as Nasir moved over top of him, kissing down his body once more which only caused Agron to shake his head more rapidly, trying to convince him to stop.

The wicked smile that played at Nasir’s lips told Agron that he wouldn’t stop even if he begged him to. Agron couldn’t help cursing in the back of his mind, this would be the longest phone call he’d ever had yet.

“It’s Faith, Kat’s getting her ready to go. She sounds horrible, she’s been up coughing going on an hour now. Kore took a couple of days to go spend with her dad, I-I called to ask if you’d mind if we dropped Annie and Karlee off while we take her up to the emergency room.” Duro knew that Kat hated hospitals and he wouldn’t force her to go alone unless he had to.

“No, no that’s uh….” Agron found himself gasping as Nasir took his cock within his mouth once more and Agron prayed that Duro didn’t hear him. “F-fine.”

“Are you sure Aggie?” Duro had noticed the hesitation in his voice and he was worried that perhaps Agron was only trying to accommodate him. “I’m sure that we can figure something out if it’s an issue.”

“N-no it’s fine Duro.” Agron was trying his hardest not to moan, knowing that his brother would surely kill him for that.

“Alright, as soon as we can get Faith ready and the girls out to the car then we’ll drop them off. They’ll probably go back to sleep if you lay them down on the couch. Thanks Agron, I owe you for this.” Duro was rambling again but Agron didn’t seem to mind. In fact the truth was, he was only half hearing everything that Duro said.

“No problem little brother. See you when you get here.” The words were choked, forced as he hung up the phone, his head falling back against the pillow, eyes closing at the feel of Nasir’s tongue swirling around him. “Fuck, Nasir, I-I’m close.”

Nasir could only offer a chuckle around Agron’s length, the vibrations causing Agron to groan, hips rolling as Nasir swallowed him once more. His fingers were entwined within Nasir’s hair as his head rolled back and Nasir swallowed everything that Agron gave him before Nasir pulled away from the man, allowing him to slip between his lips, tongue running over them as he did. “So what did your brother need?”

Leave it to Nasir to be so casual about the situation but Agron was unable to answer as his chest heaved, eyes closed as if he had just had one of the best workouts ever. However once he could finally answer him, he found the words to answer the question. “Well, from what I gathered  while trying not to give away the fact that you were giving me head was that Faith’s sick again. He wanted to know if we’d take the girls while they took her in. They should be here soon but I think I have enough time to return the favor if you’re interested, minus the phone call of course but I will return that favor one of these days.”

“You know me better than that baby, you know you never have to ask if I want you to return the favor. As for on the phone, I figured what better time to find out if you’re still interested in that whole exhibitionism thing that you used to be so in love with.” A groan slipped through Nasir’s lips as he felt Agron’s hand wrap around his length. “Mmmmm so good baby.”

***

“Hey, how’s Faith?” Agron opened the door stepping aside. He’d sent Nasir back to bed and had been up pacing when Kat had arrived to get the girls once more.

“They’re going to keep her over night, she’s having a hard time breathing still but Duro’s going to stay the night with her while they try and get the inflammation in her lungs down. Sounds like she’s going to follow in her dad’s footsteps and have lung issues.” Kat sighed as she slipped into the house. “I’m dead tired. You mind if I kidnap the girls and run?”

“Not at all but I’ll make you and even better offer. Why don’t you just crash in the guest room for the night and you can take the girls home in the morning, or you can leave them here so you can go and relieve Duro or whatever.” Agron pushed the door closed behind her not wanting to pressure her into anything but he figured that she would agree anyways.

“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Kat hated to impose anymore than she had already but she knew that Agron would offer even if it imposed upon his own life and family.

“No, no of course not.” Agron set his hand upon his arm offering a smile as he did. “Annie and Karlee are asleep on the couch, you can tuck yourself into bed and by tomorrow you’ll be feeling much better. Hell I’m sure I can dig out a t-shirt for you to sleep in if it’ll make you feel better.”

“While your brother would probably object to me sleeping in anyone else’s clothes, that sounds nice as long as it’s not an inconvenience.”

“I’m pretty sure that he wont object if it’s mine.” Agron laughed, thinking back to the argument that he and Duro had, had about even the hint of jealousy from his brother directed at him. He wouldn’t cheat on Duro, not only because he didn’t enjoy the company of a woman intimately but because it was against Agron’s loyalties to Duro.

“Sounds good then.” Kat offered a smile as she looked at him.

“I think you know where the guest room is, I’ll see what I can round up for you to sleep in and meet you there, how’s that sound?”

“Well it’s not Hawaii with Duro but  I think I can live with that.” Kat nodded, starting for the guest room. She paused in the living room to look in upon the girls. A smile played at her lips as her eyes fell upon Annie who was curled up at one end of the couch, her teddy bear clutched to her chest as she peacefully slept. Carefully she reached over the back of the couch pulling the blanket up over her daughter’s tiny frame. Karlee lay at the other end of the couch, arms curled around the stuffed frog that she’d had since she was born, her covers tossed all over the couch as they often ended up in her own bed. Kat merely shook her head, leaning down to press a kiss to each girl’s forehead. As she did, each girl tossed and turned stirring from her sleep for a moment but quickly returning once she was done.

Slipping down the hall she wasn’t surprised to find Agron leaned against the door frame of the guest room. “Nasir offers a pair of sweats, they may or may not fit but I did bring you a T-shirt as well.” He offered her the sweats as well as the t-shirt. “Good Night Kat. If you need anything you know where to find us Kat.” He was all but positive that they wouldn’t hear from her but he wanted her to know it just in case.

“Thanks Agron, for everything. I know that this can’t be easy for you either. I mean how much you desire to be with Nasir, and I wish that we weren’t always butting in on the time that you have.”

Agron tried his hardest not to laugh, he knew that his sister in law could read his body language and that meant that he had to hide it better than he did with Duro. “It’s not a big thing Kat; we always have time for one another as well as you and Duro.”

***

“You look beautiful.” Duro offered a grin as he looked down at Kat from where he was sitting on the edge of the guest bed. Agron had called him early that morning and offered to go sit with Faith while he got some sleep but instead he had come to see how Kat was and to see if she needed anything. “Even if you are wearing Aggie’s shirt. Which I should tell you is an honor because he hates letting anyone but Nasir wear his clothes.”

“Mmmm speaking of, where is prince charming?” A yawn slipped through her lips as she forced herself to sit up on the bed knowing that her hair was probably a mess and that she was looked like death.

“With Faith, he offered to stay with her for awhile while we got some sleep and made sure that the girls were all set.” Duro leaned down kissing the woman lightly. “When I left they were coloring together. She sounds a little better today but she sounded great until one of the nurses tried to give her nuts.”

“Did the woman not read her fucking chart?” Kat’s eyes widened as he looked at him. “She’s highly allergic, stupid bitch.”

“Oh don’t worry. Crixus was chewing on her the last time that I saw her.” Duro was trying his hardest not to laugh at the thought. “If she still has a job by tonight I’ll be pretty much amazed.”

“Oh good because if I get near her I’m pretty much liable to have a fit when it comes to her.” Kat hated the thought that the woman had tried to put her daughter’s life in danger.

“Hey, she’s in good hands. Agron’s with her, he’ll keep an eye on her and make sure that everything is ok. Now you aught to get some sleep and I’ll check in on you later.”

“No, no Duro I’m fine. I’ll get up and get the girls taken care of and make sure that everything is good, now go and get some sleep.” Kat grinned.

“Hey, you guys hungry?” Nasir leaned against the door frame watching the two of them. “Eva’s cooking and she offered to make something if you’re interested.”

“Mmm, food sounds good.” Kat nodded swinging her legs over the edge of the bed before she pushed herself up onto her feet. “I really should go help her.” IT was driving Kat nuts not helping out the way that she was because she felt like she was taking advantage of them.

“Oh hey Nasir?” Duro turned to look at the man. “What had Agron so distracted when I called?”

A blush formed upon Nasir’s cheeks as his eyes turned to the floor. “Oh, he was uh watching a movie before he went to bed and he was trying to figure out the ending. You know how your brother is about things on TV.” Nasir hated lying to him but he also knew that he couldn’t tell him the truth without grossing Duro out so it seemed better this way.


	16. Chapter 16

The throaty chuckle that escaped Duro surprised Nasir making him snap his head back up. “Is that what they’re calling it these days Nasir? I do appreciate you saving me the details though.”

“How about we go find food huh?” Kat set a hand on Nasir’s shoulder, squeezing lightly to ease the tension his body held. “He’s giving you a hard time, he’s just pissed he’s not getting any.”

It was Duro’s turn to blush now, something that Nasir was pretty sure that he had never seen before. “Sibyl called and offered to take the girls for a few days while you get things sorted out with Faith.” Nasir was trying to bail the younger German out and he hoped above all else that he would catch on.

“What a sweetheart, I’ll give her a call after breakfast and see what she has in mind.” Kat nodded as she started for the kitchen. “I hate to inconvenience you and Agron any longer.”

“It’s not an inconvenience.” Nasir sighed.

“You’ve been with Agron too long, you’re starting to sound like him.” Duro grinned as he followed after Nasir.

“Except that I have yet to pick up the accent, which is really bad when he’s tired.” Nasir was glad to see Duro happy, it meant the world to him and under these circumstances it made him even happier.

“Uncle Duro you hungry?” Kat had settled in helping Eva out with the cooking, and the young girl was bubbling about the wedding that she’d gone to with Travis as well as the party they’d thrown her for her birthday.

“No thanks Eva.” His voice was gentle, eyes turning to look at her. “I will however borrow Aggie’s keys. Go catch a shower and then I’ll bring the girls clothes and if you want something Kat I’ll bring you something too.”

Kat couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at him. “As much as I adore Agron’s Metallica shirt, I’d appreciate it if you brought back clothes with you. That is as long as Nasir doesn’t mind if I borrow the shower and then I’ll call Sibyl and see about the girls. Then I can call your brother and I’ll take over for him and life will be well again.” She always seemed to be the ones who planned these types of things out especially when there was stress involved, but that didn’t bother her any.

“Nope, don’t mind at all. Duro, you know the rules, you can borrow the car but if you do anything to it then you stole the keys and your brother will kill you.” Even Eva chuckled at the statement. Agron loved that car more than just about anything in his life other than Nasir and the kids of course and while he had given Duro permission to borrow it as he felt the need to and he was sure that this constituted that.

“Then it’s settled.” Taking the keys from where they hung above the kitchen counter, Duro headed towards the garage, offering a parting smile.  “See you soon.”

***

“Well hello there little one.” Kat offered a smile as her eyes fell upon the little girl who was curled within Agron’s lap in the rocking chair in her hospital room.

“Daddy lefted earlier.” Faith’s little head turned up to look at her, eyes tired as she clung to her panda bear. “Uncle Agron stayded with me and saided I should takes a nap.”

“That sounds like a good idea little one. Daddy went home to get some sleep and you should do the same.” It was obvious that Agron had managed to keep her busy while they were gone and for that much she could be glad. “But how about we let Uncle Agron go home and I’ll stay with you ok?”

“Nos.” Faith’s eyes turned up to look at Agron as she cuddled closer. “Hes goods to mes…please don’t makes him goes.” The little girl’s eyes turned to look up at him. “You wont leaves me wills you?”

Carefully Agron wrapped an arm around the tiny girl, holding her close to him. “I wont go anywhere baby girl unless mommy and daddy says that I have to but they wont let anything happen to you.”

Kat’s brow furrowed, trying to plead with Agron to tell her what was going on. There had to be a reason that the little girl was so afraid and Kat wanted to know what it was. If someone had tried to hurt her daughter she was positive that she would make sure that they paid for it.

“She’s alright.” Agron’s foot kept the chair rocking trying to put Faith to sleep, yet she was like her father and as stubborn as he could be, she could be worse. A hand ran over her back trying to soothe her. “Nurse tried to draw blood again and she got a little scared.”

“Sorry Duro should have mentioned that she hates needles.” Kat shook her head offering a smile before she scooped the sleeping girl from his arms before laying her on the bed. She turned to look at Agron offering a smile. “Go home, be with your kids. I promise if we need your help we’ll call, there’s no point in you staying though. She’ll understand when she wakes up, and she’ll forget about it.”

Agron’s eyes moved over the little girl in the bed before he nodded. “The girls still staying at the house?”

“No, Sibyl offered to keep an eye on them at home until Kore gets home tomorrow. With any hope she should be home not long after that.” Kat hated the thought, they had known that this was possible being as though she was born premature but it was hard for all of them.

“Stay strong Kat, that’s all you can do.” Agron pulled her close to him. “I’m only a phone call away if you need me alright?”

“I know Agron, now go home to your family, or at least the parts of it that aren’t in school.” Kat’s voice was gentle trying to convince him to go. Her own girls were situated at school and Sibyl had their schedule so that she knew what was going on when and for the time being Duro was around.

“Alright, alright I’m going.” While Agron knew that Kat was having a hard time with this, there wasn’t much that he could do about it but he would do whatever he could.

***

“Are you trying to ride Duke again?” Laughing Agron scooped the little boy from the dog’s back; the one thing that he could be glad for was the fact that all of the dogs were so good with him. He could do anything that he wanted to any of them and most of the time the dogs simply laid there looking at him as if wondering what he was doing.

“Probably, he’s been trying all morning but Duke refuses to move.” Nasir leaned in from the kitchen where he was watching dishes. Many would argue that they weren’t responsible people because they allowed the little boy to be alone in rooms but first they had made sure that there wasn’t anything that could hurt him in the room first.

“Nah, not my little guy.” Agron grinned as he propped Austen up upon his hip. “You’re such a sweet little boy; I don’t know how daddy can say such a thing about you.” His fingers tickled at Austen’s little feet enjoying the sound of his little giggles.

“Dadada.” The little boy began to babble tugging at Agron’s shirt as if trying to get his attention before the other hand reached out for Nasir.

“What’s on your mind little guy? Huh?” Drying his hands on the towel, Nasir allowed him to take hold of his hand. This was normal, the little boy was trying so hard and Nasir was proud of what he had accomplished so far. This boy was truly a blessing to them and Nasir was more than glad to have him even if it meant a little extra work.

“I think he wants to cuddle.” Nasir couldn’t help wondering if Agron meant that Austen wanted to cuddle or that he did but either way he was more than game for it.

“Oh yea? Hmmm, I think we can arrange for that.” A smile played at Nasir’s lips as he pulled at Agron’s hand heading for the living room once more. He was beginning to settle back into a routine after the change in his schedule once more and in truth he enjoyed it. It was nice having time at home with Agron while the kids were at school and it was pretty much just the two of them, other than Austen and Lea when she got home from school.

Settling in upon the couch, Agron allowed Austen to settle in, pouting as he crawled off of his chest slipping from the couch to the floor in order to play.

“I thought you said that he wanted to snuggle?” The laughter that followed from Nasir was no surprise to Agron, he was glad to see that the man was much happier since he had started getting time off and could do the things that he wanted to as well as working.

“I guess his toys became more important to him, oh well he’ll come back.” Holding his arms out to Nasir though, he finally grabbed hold of one of his hands pulling him down to the couch with him. “In the mean time I get you all to myself.” The grin that played at his lips was one that Nasir knew well, it was hard to mistake, he was up to something and that something was anything but good.

“Yea, was it that he wanted to snuggle or that you did?” Nasir settled in, his head upon Agron’s shoulder as he watched Austen play. The little boy was playing with his blocks trying to figure out why they kept falling over but he always avoided them falling on top of him, something that surprised both of them.

“Well, maybe I wanted to cuddle.” Agron grinned wrapping an arm around Nasir, pulling him close to him as he did. “But if I had told you that would you have wanted to join me? Of course not, but the cute little boy drew you to me now didn’t he?”

“Well he does have the cutest little dimples that I’ve never seen anywhere else before.” Of course Nasir was playing, it wasn’t hard to tell where Austen had gotten those adorable little dimples from along with his beautiful green eyes.

“I wish that I knew where he got them from.” Agron sighed, a pout forming. “Because wherever he got them, I certainly wish I had a pair of my own.”

“You do have a pair Agron.” Nasir shook his head as he leaned back closer to Agron. “Now, next time all you have to do is ask really. I’ll cuddle anytime you want me to, well unless I’m busy doing something else that is.”

“Good because I cant think of anyone else I’d rather cuddle with.” A smile played at Agron’s lips as he looked at Nasir. “I mean there used to be others that I would consider doing it with but you’re my one and only now. Well you and the little man that is, my two favorite little men.”

“Alright, you start making fun of my stature and I’ll have to change my mind on you but otherwise you’ll be just fine.” While Nasir knew that the man was teasing him, he hated anyone talking about his height.

“I’m sorry.” Agron pulled him closer to him placing a kiss upon his forehead before his eyes fell upon sweet little Austen again. “You know, I finally understand why you feel the way that you do about Lea. If it wasn’t for my little guy I don’t know what my life would come to. I never figured that I’d enjoy being a house wife but you know, I’ve come to enjoy watching him grow up, watching him reach new milestones daily.”

“It’s amazing isn’t it?” Nasir understood all to well what Agron was experiencing right now and he knew that it truly was a wonderful feeling watching such things happen.

“I-I….” Agron knew what he wanted to say but he had no idea how to explain it to him. “It’s amazing but it’s terrifying all at the same time. I can understand why Duro’s so upset right now. He sees himself all over again in Faith, the years that he couldn’t do anything because of his own lungs and to see it all over again for another child, I can’t imagine what that’s like.”

“She’s going to be fine Agron.” Nasir loved the man and he adored the fact that he was such a worrier but he wanted so badly to ease his mind. “From the beginning we knew that since she was a preemie she was going to have issues with being sick and such. So she’s going to be fine Agron, hell we all know that Crixus wouldn’t leave her alone if that wasn’t the truth.”

Agron could only nod, knowing that if he was in the same situation he would be just as worried about what would happen to the child, especially if it was Austen. His sweet little Austen.

The little boy had lost interest in the blocks and was now standing at the end of the couch looking up at him and Nasir as if trying to figure out how to get up on the couch with him. “Da Da Da.”

“See, I told you that he wanted to cuddle. He just didn’t know that he wanted to cuddle when he went to go and play with his blocks.” Pulling his arm from around Nasir, Agron moved to pick the little boy up allowing him to settle in between them on the couch. “So, shall we find a cartoon on?” He knew that there would be no answer from the little boy but asked anyways.

“So what are we watching today?” Nasir grabbed the remote and began flipping through channels. It was something that he had become used to, even after only being home for a week.

“How about something like Super Readers? Or Dinosaur Train?” Agron’s eyes drifted over the man smiling as he thought about it. There were a lot of different things that they could watch, some of them were fairly decent and others they had made fun of for days but even Austen seemed to have favorites.

Lea, Aerlia and Emma seemed to enjoy Dora the Explorer and that was one thing that they could be grateful for but above all else Agron was glad that they fit in to some extent. He wouldn’t forget the day that Lea had come home in tears because she didn’t know what Veggie Tales was and all of her friends did. It hadn’t been like they were attempting to keep her from it or anything, they simply hadn’t seen any value in such a thing due to their lack of religious ties but when she had practically begged them to watch it they had settled in to watch it with her. Yet in the end she had found that she didn’t like it either, even though her friends had said that they all enjoyed it, she hadn’t and that meant so much to her, glad that she had made that decision for herself.

Austen on the other hand seemed to enjoy things like Dinosaur Train, The Wonder Pets and The Wiggles but Agron didn’t seem to mind any of them and in fact he had found himself interested in the Dinosaurs and didn’t mind watching with him.

“Well you seem to have found an interest in Dinosaur Train so I’d hate to take that kind of enjoyment away from the two of you.” Nasir laughed and Austen began to laugh as well, as if he didn’t want to be left out of the joke whatever it was.

“Oh come on, tell me that you aren’t interested in what was on the planet before we were!” Rolling his eyes, Agron leaned down and pressed a kiss to Austen’s forehead before pressing a kiss to Nasir’s lips. “I missed this. For the last few years I’ve felt like we were just two ships passing in the night, like neither of us had time for the other and that’s been tough for me.”

“I missed it too.” The truth was that Nasir had felt much the same for awhile and he too was glad to have time together, plus he knew that it was good for Austen as well. With Eva and Derrick, they had pretty much been raised before they had gotten them as well as Emma but Aerlia and Lea had been raised as their own and as much as Agron had tried to help, he was busy with work more often than he liked to be and they had certainly never gotten time like this for them, and that was something that they both wished hadn’t been that way.

“It’s never too late to start a family the right way I suppose.” Agron was glad that they were both there most of the time when the kids got out of school and could help them with their homework or to celebrate a test that they had gotten good grades on. It also meant that they were both there to get them a snack before Lea was off to dance, or Aerlia and Emma were off to their piano and singing lessons. In general they were more of a family then they had ever been before and that made Agron feel so much better about the whole situation. Though he had failed them before, it was time for him to make it up to them and he was trying so hard to decide how to do that because it wasn’t possible to take back the things that had happened in the past. “We need to have a get together one of these nights.”

“You pick a day and I’ll make sure that everything is all set and ready to do whatever it is that you want to do.” Nasir had pulled Austen into his lap settling against Agron once more. The little boy never fussed, never whined, and never complained about what was done to him or what people were doing around him.

“Baba.” The little boy pulled at his sleeve trying to get his attention as he looked up at him trying to get his attention.

“What’s up little guy?” Nasir wasn’t surprised that he wanted attention. Most of the time he was Agron’s little guy but if Nasir wanted to cuddle the little boy made no attempt to turn him away, and Nasir often took advantage of that. “You want some apple sauce? Huh? Is that what you want? I bet daddy would go and get it for you.”

The words brought Agron out of his day dream, there was nothing quite like Nasir with one of the kids to amaze him. Agron adored watching them, the cute little wrinkles of Nasir’s face as he held the young child. The laughter when he was cute and the way that Nasir always seemed to soothe away the tears whenever one of the kids was upset, reminded Agron as to why he had fallen for the man in the first place. “Of course I will.” Pushing himself from the couch, Agron started into the kitchen before he came back with the apple sauce and a spoon.

“You know, it amazes me how much he looks like you.” Nasir was still cuddling the boy when he returned and settled in beside them once more. “Such a sweet little guy, I was thinking maybe tomorrow once Lea’s out of school we’d take the two of them to the aquarium. I know Lea loves fish and so do you, plus I bet Austen would love the dolphins and whales.”

“Sounds good to me. Maybe we can call Ganni and Saxa and see if Bree wants to go with us, and maybe we can get Karlee’s mind off of things with Faith and take her along.” Nasir hoped that maybe they could help the girl to get through her sister not being home, and the fact that Duro and Kat were in and out trying to make sure that everything was alright with everyone. It would be a stressful occurrence for her but he hoped that they could make her feel better about it like this.

***

“Oh daddy look at the fishy!” Lea was pulling at Nasir’s hand pointing at a an angel fish that had just appeared, catching her attention as well Bree’s. On the other hand Bree was propped up on Saxa’s hip, the older German happily pointing out fish to the tiny girls.

Austen on the other hand was settled on Agron’s hip, head swiveling happily watching the brightly colored fish that were swimming about around him. There was so much to take in and he seemed so happy to do so. “What is it huh?” Agron’s eyes lit up as he watched him, he was excited as well. “The dolphins are next.”

“That’s an angelfish.” Nasir laughed as he looked at Lea who was impatiently pulling at his sleeve as he looked down at her.

“And you could have them of your own little one.” Saxa offered as she moved along side of them. They had all been a little let down that Karlee hadn’t wanted to join them but Duro had promised to take her to go and see Faith even though they were hoping to bring her home the next day.

“I wishes that Faith could bes here.” Lea pouted as she looked up at Nasir, taking his hand within her own once more as she walked beside him. It had been a nice escape from their every day life for all of them and it was nice to have a couple of hours not to have to worry about things.

“Me too baby girl, me too.”

“Uncle Duro promised that this weekend once Faith is settled back in at home and everything is worked out that we’d go to the zoo with the girls and see the animals.” Agron knew that the girls loved going to the zoo almost as much as they loved going to the park.

“Otays. Can Brees comes too?” Lea’s tiny eyes turned to look up at Saxa as if she was beginning to beg her to agree with her.

“That’s up to your dad and your uncle, but if they say that it’s ok then I cant see a reason that she couldn’t go if she wanted to.” When Saxa had taken the brothers in as her family, she had learned to worry and love them which extended to the kids as well. Sweet little Faith was the prime representation of that and Saxa was sure that it would mean a lot to her if Bree could be there when they went out.

“Sounds good to me.” Agron offered a nod, his spare hand wrapping within Nasir’s, holding onto it tightly as he began to walk alongside of him. He didn’t seem the least bit phased by the strange looks that they were getting from other people as he had for many years now. It didn’t bother him what others thought of their relationship, he had gotten used to it, almost as used to it as the awful names that they had been called for so long. They had been told several times that they should rot in hell because of their relationship, that they shouldn’t have kids and even worse that they aught to die for who they loved.

While Agron hated it more than anything he was growing more used to dealing with it in public, especially with the kids around. He would gripe to Nasir once they were home but in front of the munchkins he wouldn’t lose his cool and tell them off. It was hard sometimes but he had learned that there were many judgmental people in this world who just wouldn’t understand that they were in love and it was just like any other relationship. If that wasn’t enough for people, he didn’t know what would be.

“Agron?” Nasir’s voice brought him from his thoughts though he sounded as though he was worried about the man as well as he spoke.

“Huh?”

“I said do you think that Duro would mind?” Saxa’s voice was calmer than Nasir’s but Nasir was known to panic when it came to Agron anyways, just as Agron would if it was Nasir.

“Oh, no I’m sure that he would think it was a good idea. He adore Bree as it is, he probably just forgot to mention it to you in everything that’s been going on lately.” Agron was trying not to make them think that there was something going on with him as he wanted so badly for others of his relationship status to be accepted, especially if it was one of his kids they were talking about.

“You’re probably right.” Saxa nodded. While Agron was the meticulous one, Duro was a worrier and he could be forgetful. It was true that in a sense the brothers completed one another, the same way that he seemed to complete Nasir, depending on who was asked. Though there were many different people who thought that the brothers were instead lovers because of how close they were to one another, but they would simply laugh it off when it came to that since it was simply a mistake.

There were few things though that the brothers didn’t know about one another and when it did actually come to that, Agron would only hide things from Nasir if it was a secret that needed to be kept from him or he was sworn to secrecy from someone else.

“However if it will make you feel better we can call him and check it out with him.” Agron smiled as Austen reached out attempting to catch a fish, confused by why he couldn’t get to it.

“He’s too cute.” Saxa shook her head. She knew that Agron took wonderful care of the little boy and that he would be raised with an understanding of the traditions of their people which was something that meant a lot to her. While in biology he was her son, he didn’t know such and she would do everything in her power to keep it that way. However she was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be that easy since Agron would insist upon telling him.

***

“I-I wanted to talk to you about something.” Saxa had settled in on the couch trying to figure out how to tell Agron what she was thinking.

“What’s the matter Saxa?” Agron had never seen a look like this on her face before and it made him wonder if everything was alright like she had insisted that it was earlier that day.

“I-I was thinking and I think it is best that as he grows we do not tell Austen that I truly am his mother. You and Nasir are his parents, you have taken care of him, raised him, I have nothing to do with that and therefore it seems best this way.” She knew that one day the little boy would be likely to ask who his mother was and then she could understand if he were to ask about it but without asking, she could not see a reason to tell him.

Agron pressed his tongue against his lips thinking about it, wondering what it was that he should say to her in response. “I don’t think that is necessary Saxa, I thought I made it clear to you from the beginning that I wanted you to be a part of his life if you so chose to. If you want to be a part of that, all you have to do is ask.” He didn’t know what else to say, he hadn’t known that she felt this way and it bothered him that he didn’t know what to do about it, but even more so it bothered him that she felt this way and he hadn’t known it.

“As I said you and Nasir are his parents.” Saxa lightly took his hand within hers. “I just want to know that he’s in good hands and I know that when it comes to you guys. You wont let anything happen to him, you love him, you spoil him. If I was going to give my child to anyone, I would certainly give him to you guys because of that fact. I love watching you with your kids, you’re such amazing parents and I wouldn’t wish to interfere with that no matter what was going on.”

“Saxa, you know that you should have told me this before.” Agron sighed. He had never figured that this was going to be easy but he knew that it was what he wanted. “You don’t have to directly be involved in raising him, it can be simple things like traditions that you want him introduced to. Cultural aspects that I may have forgotten about in my time here but you remember and you want your son to know about, anything at all. You can always, always interrupt me and tell me that you want him to learn it.” Wrapping his fingers around Saxa’s he gave her hand a squeeze, only hard enough to let her know that he was there no matter what happened to her and he wanted so much for her to step up and tell him what she really wanted for Austen. “Next time please tell me these things Saxa, I cannot fix them if I do not know that there is an issue.”

“I’m sorry.” Saxa offered a weak smile as she looked at him. “I just wanted to make things easier for you, Nasir and Austen. I wont say that it was easy to give him up but I did it for you and I am glad that I did. There was nothing that I would have done differently about that situation since he is truly a gift from the gods, one that you both deserve more than anything else.”


	17. Chapter 17

“But you both need to be a part of his life, no questions asked.” Nasir’s voice made Saxa’s head spin; she hadn’t realized that he was there. “I will raise him as my child but only if you will work with us on how he should be raised.”

Agron nodded as he looked at Saxa. “We need your help. He can only learn so much from us, there will be many things that we need your help in teaching him.”

“I do not wish to interfere.” Saxa sighed as she eyed them, but she knew there was no sense in arguing the two of them because they would argue no matter what she said. “I suppose though that if it is what you wish then I will agree to it and hope that if we are to move forward that we will one day find a way to make this work out the right way.”

“Aggie?” Duro’s tired voice could  be heard from the door way. It was hard to tell if he had just come from the hospital or if he was on his way to take over for cat but it was obvious that he was tired.

“What’s up?” Agron found himself leaning over the back of the chair to look at his brother. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had looked that tired, but he could only imagine that it had probably been while he was still dating Naevia.

“Kat said that you called while I was at the emergency room and I was just wondering what was up.” Offering a weak smile, Duro settled in beside Saxa on the couch before he tossed the keys in Agron’s direction. “Figured you might want that back too. I mean I know what the car means to you and all.”

“Thanks.” Agron laughed before dropping the keys on the nightstand. “So I called and asked you to stop over because we have something for the girls.” Pushing himself from the chair he returned with a bag before holding out a stuffed dolphin along with a stuffed whale. “We figured that Faith could pick out which one she liked and then Karlee could have the other one.”

“Awww, I’m sure that that will make her feel much better. She’s been kind of bummed because Kat forgot to bring her the stuffed puppy that she normally sleeps with.” Duro settled back against the back of the couch, the stuffed animals settled in on his lap.

“Well Lea and Bree picked them out; they were kind of bummed that she couldn’t come with us today.”

“As soon as she’s settled in back at home we’ll have to take them both and go to the zoo or something. That’ll help.” His eyes moved to Saxa. “That is if it’s alright with you that Bree goes.”

“It’s fine with me.” Saxa nodded as she looked at him. “The girls deserve some time together and I know what it would mean to Faith. I cant see a possible reason why she shouldn’t be allowed to go along. I’m sure that Gannicus would agree but I will mention it to him as well and see what he has to say.” The woman was trying to make him feel better.

“You sound tired Duro.” Nasir’s voice was quiet as he eyed the younger of the German brothers. “Is there anything that we can do for you? Something that we could do to help?”

“Sure, you could take a nap for me if you wanted.” Duro offered a cheeky smile as he looked at him. “I just mean, sleep will be nice, once I start actually getting some sleep that is.”

“You’ve got to sleep little brother.” Agron sighed, he wanted to make things better for him, he wanted to help, to fix things as he had so many other times in his life but there was nothing he could do to make this better and that bothered him. “It will be good for you, I know it’s not easy but you have to.”

“I always sleep better with Kat at my side and I haven’t had that lately and it bothers me not having her there.” Duro shook his head. It had been tough trying to sleep when he could but whenever he settled in, Kat wasn’t there, the woman was normally with Faith, since she hated to leave her alone and Faith hated to be left alone even more.

“Soon Duro, soon.” Saxa’s words had an empty meaning because she knew exactly what he was talking about, in fact in truth they all did. There wasn’t a one of them who didn’t feel better knowing that their lover lay beside them at night but it was easier said then done in this case. “I learned that while Gannicus was away visiting his mother, it is never easy but you lean ways to get around that.”

“I just want her home.” The words left them all wondering if he meant Kat or Faith or even if he had meant both of them but the meaning was still understood. He would be himself again once they were home but it would be another day at least before that was possible. “Hopefully tomorrow she’ll be home and that will be helpful in itself.”

“You need a break little brother. Why don’t you hang out here with Nasir and the little guy and I’ll go sit with Faith for awhile. She’s alright with me and it’ll make her feel a little better. Take a break, I’ll let Kat know you’re here and you can relax. I know it’s not easy, but it’ll be good for you.”

“Agron is right . You must time take for youself.” Duro understood what she meant, it wasn’t easy but he understood it all the same. He remembered well what it felt like to be trying to stumble through getting used to a new country and a new language and while Saxa had been here for years now, she was still trying to adjust to it all.

“Thanks Saxa, you’re supposed to be on my side.” Duro was teasing but he looked up at woman nodding as he did. “If you’re sure Agron, and as long as Nasir is alright with it, then go ahead and sit with her. Gods Nasir, I’m sorry if I manage to fall asleep on you.”

“No big thing.” Nasir shrugged. “I mean it’s not like Agron and I were planning to crawl in bed with one another and fuck or anything.”

Duro cringed at the thought. “Ummmm….thanks…that was uh…more than I needed to talk about.”

“Really? So did you want to hear about Ganni and I too?” Saxa never smiled, never budged from her expression as she spoke. She knew the answer but she had to ask anyways, the look on Duro’s face always made her smile when she did.

“No, no, no.” Duro’s face scrunched up at the thought. “What the hell am I going to do to get that image out of my head? Gods, the only thing worse is the thought of you and Gannicus and Agron in bed together.”

“Alright, I’m leaving.” Agron pushed himself from the chair, grabbing his keys from the table as he did. “Have a wonderful time continuing this conversation.”

***

“I missed you.” The words were a whisper as Agron crawled into bed, Nasir wasn’t sure what kind of mood he would be in but he figured that he would at least be tired.

“I missed you too baby.” Wrapping his arms around Nasir, he snuggled closer to him. “but Duro needed a vacation from everything that’s going on and I just couldn’t think of anything else to do other than taking over for him.”

“I know, I know.” Nasir found himself nuzzling at Agron’s neck, his lips playing with the skin on it. Teeth pulling at the tendons that ran through his neck. “Sorry I know that you’re tired.” he whispered pulling away from his neck and settling back into Agron’s arms on the bed.

“It’s alright, actually I’m not as tired as I would have thought that I was going to be. I managed to catch a nap while Faith was sleeping so even though she tired me out it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be.” Agron’s finger tips gently ran over Nasir’s back, lips pulling at his ear as he did. “Were you interested in another type of distraction?”

“Mmmm…you mean the type of distraction where we both know that no matter what we’re in the middle of your brother will call?” Nasir laughed rolling over to face Agron, pressing his lips against his own. “It never seems to fail, no matter what, we’re in the middle of sex and Duro calls.”

“Is that a complaint that I hear?” Agron was trying to figure out if Nasir was complaining out of frustration or simply to complain. IT wasn’t easy and that much he knew, he understood his lover’s frustrations but he loved his brother and it wasn’t an easy choice to make. He hated it when he had to put Duro above Nasir or vice versa, they were both equally important to him and as such he hated having to decide to put one above the other.

“No, you know that I love Duro like family, I just wish that he had better timing is all.” Nasir didn’t mind that Duro would call, in fact he was used to him calling and he was glad to help out. However, at the same time he needed time with Agron; he needed to be able to express his love to his other half and if he couldn’t then what good was their relationship?

“I know Nasir, I’ll talk to him.” He rested his chin against Nasir’s shoulder. “Besides if I know my brother he’s probably at home making up for lost time with his wife. Sibyl offered to stay with Faith tonight now that Kore’s home and ready to take on the girls. Kat looked pretty rough when she left the hospital so it’ll be good for her too. Saxa was going to take the night feedings and such at the stable and everything is taken care of, promise.” Agron’s gentle hands began to rub over Nasir’s back. “I love you, I hope you know that. I know that you wouldn’t know it after this week, it seems like I’ve spent more time with them than I have here with you but I just I need to do this for Duro.”

“I know baby. Come on, let’s get some sleep.” Really Nasir did understand why Agron was doing this; he didn’t need to explain himself but still a selfish part of him wanted him all to himself, if even for a short period of time.

“Sleep? Is that really what you want?” Agron knew better, the man was trying his hardest to do what he thought that Agron wanted but in truth, it wasn’t even close to what he wanted. All the man really wanted was to lay Nasir down against the bed and ravish him. It was a thought that brought a stirring to his cock and he knew that truly it was what Nasir wanted as well. Yet for one reason or another, the man was rejecting his advances which made him unsure of what to do. He would never press Nasir further than he wanted to go and without his ok, he wouldn’t move forward.

“What is it that you want Agron? That’s all I want, to help to make you feel better. I want you to be alright, to feel good, to be happy to be loved. What can I do to make that happen baby?” Nasir snuggled in, his head drifting to rest on Agron’s shoulder as he looked up at him. “I just want to see you smile and relax.”

“I want you.” Agron’s words were hoarse as he pulled Nasir closer to him, unable to keep his fingertips to himself. “You know I would never take you against your will as others would and should you not wish to then I will find another way to accomplish that goal. If you want to go to sleep, go ahead.” His finger tips moved brushing the hair away from Nasir’s face. He was absolutely amazed how Nasir’s dark eyes were masked under dark long eyelashes which kept his motives hidden as well. The man before him’s beauty mesmerized him in so many ways and he never got used to the way that he made him feel. It was always a new and different experience each time.

“I-I….” Nasir stammered and he knew that his hesitation was enough for Agron to understand. He wanted to and yet something was holding him back, something was keeping him from going ahead and saying yes.

“I understand.” Agron’s voice was quiet as he buried his face in the top of Nasir’s head. The smell of his shampoo and cologne was intoxicating at that. “Come here.” His voice was muffled by his hair as he spoke but he knew that Nasir understood.

“I-I’m sorry.” Nasir stammered. It was rare that he refused Agron and he wasn’t sure why he was tonight but something wasn’t right and he felt safe with Agron. Agron had been right, he did know that he wouldn’t force him to do anything that he didn’t want to and as such he didn’t feel bad refusing him.

“No, there is nothing to be sorry about. I love you Nasir, and I would never make you do anything you weren’t comfortable with.” Agron’s head dropped lower to press a kiss behind Nasir’s left ear. His forehead coming to rest upon the side of Nasir’s as well. “You have nothing to be sorry about. In fact, if anyone should be sorry, it should be more.”

“For what?” Nasir was surprised by what his ears told him about what his lover had just said to him and he was trying to figure out what there was for Agron to apologize for.

“For putting myself above you. By now I aught to be able to tell what your body is telling me and I ignored what it was telling me for my own needs.” His own needs had been set aside to decide what was going on with Nasir, why had the man said no to him? What was it that was bothering him?

“I-I….” Nasir sighed shaking his head. “I wish I knew what it was that was going on with me. I just….I don’t feel it tonight. It’s not you, hell it’s not even me I don’t think.”

“It’s alright, you don’t have to explain Nasir, you just have to come here and curl up with me and go to sleep.” He would hold him, let him go to sleep. Maybe he would go and take a shower once he had gotten there but Agron would take care of him first, just as Nasir would take care of Agron before he took care of himself. It was the way that their relationship worked. “It’s probably stress and I know what that’s like.” His voice was calm as he rolled himself onto his back, keeping Nasir within his arms as he did.

“Maybe I’m pregnant.” Nasir’s eyes closed as he settled his head against Agron’s shoulder once more, glad to be in the man’s arms. It was the one place that he felt safe even after all the years that he had been abused by others who told him that they loved him and yet hadn’t.

“Mmmmm, I don’t think that’s it somehow.” Agron was glad to laugh as he hugged the man to his chest. The laughter made him well aware of the fact that he was truly alright and that it wasn’t something he had done that upset him.

“Oh but come on, think about it. We could have two little ones to grow old together!”

“No, we did that once with Aerlia and Lea, never again. I cant do that, I’m too old for two little ones that don’t sleep through the night anymore.” Agron had quickly learned why he would never consider doing it again and Agron had felt sympathetic for Duro when they’d found out that they were having twins because he knew what that was like to an extent.

“But we have Emma and Aerlia, they’re the same age and you don’t mind them.” Nasir had a point and he knew it but he also knew what Agron was talking about too. 

“Emma and Aery aren’t too bad. For the most part they sleep through the night and they don’t usually wake up in the middle of the night crying because they’re hungry. I can deal with them at this age, but right now Austen’s enough for me.” Agron adored all of his kids, none of them were better than the rest in his eyes but every now and then he could see an issue with the way they were raising them.

“Sleep Agron, I think that’s what we both need right now.” Nasir was trying his hardest to get comfortable. It was odd how many nights they spent sleeping together and yet Nasir still had trouble finding a position that was comfortable every now and then. “It’s been a long week and something tells me that this weekend won’t be any less long.”

“I love you Nasir.”

“I love you too Agron.”

***

“Daddy.” Agron cracked an eye to look at the tiny girl who stood at the edge of the bed. His head was killing him, but he wouldn’t ignore the child.

“What’s the matter baby girl?” Pushing himself so that he was leaning on his arm, finger tips rubbing his eyes as he tried to get them to adjust to look at her. He wasn’t even sure if it was Emma or Aerlia yet, just that it was one of the girls. While Emma was beginning to settle in better, the girl was still kind of gun shy about calling either of them daddy but every once in awhile she slipped up and did so.

“I haded a bad dreams.” Emma whimpered sitting on the edge of the bed. “And I no feels goods nows, will yous stays wif me?”

“Come here Em.” Agron held his arms out to her a smile forming as he felt Nasir adjust beside him, allowing him to move over on the bed to make room for her. “What doesn’t feel good?”

“My tummy, my heads, I just no feels good.” Emma didn’t look up at him. “Can I stays?”

“Yea, yea you can stay. Is that Rainbow Dash?” He asked looking at the stuffed pony that was clutched to her chest. He wanted to ask her what she had dreamt about, what was going on in her head but he knew that if he wanted her to go back to sleep, that wasn’t an option.

Emma nodded as she crawled in beside him, and as he allowed an arm to drop over top of her, he could tell that she was shaking. Whatever had happened to her had her scared, and he couldn’t help wondering if he should call Laeta to see what she had come from.

“Good Night baby girl.” Agron whispered leaning down and pressing his lips to the top of her head. “I promise, you’re safe here. If you don’t feel safe, you wake me up ok?”

“Otay daddy.” Emma whispered as she settled in closer to Agron and for a moment his heart stopped. This was a little girl who only a few months earlier hadn’t trusted him nor wanted anything to do with them really and yet here she was calling him daddy. It was a feeling that he would never get used to, that much he was sure of.

“Good Night baby girl.” His voice was hardly a whisper as the tiny girl within his arms drifted off to sleep and though he wouldn’t admit it if anyone asked, he lay there watching her sleep for awhile.

“Mmmm did we find company?” Nasir asked adjusting himself on the bed beside them both trying to get comfortable again.

“Yea, she said she had a night mare and now she doesn’t feel good. I’m pretty sure that whatever it was she dreamt about is the exact reason that she is upset. Nasir, I was just laying here thinking that we’ve had her now for a while and we still don’t know what she’s been through, what she’s trying to get through on her own. For all we know it could be memories from her family that have her upset. “ In truth he felt bad for the little girl, he knew what it was like to live with the physical abuse that she had lived through, yet what else had she been through? Had there been emotional? Sexual? The question bothered him but he knew it was something that must be asked, how could he possibly make things better for her if he didn’t know what had happened? In that moment he made up his mind to call Laeta in the morning and see if she could help them in some way to make things better for the little girl.

“I know that it’s hard for you but get some sleep Agron, you cant make it better if you don’t take care of you too.” Nasir’s voice was gentle, his fingers wrapping within Agron’s giving them a gentle squeeze before he settled in to return to sleep as well. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy for Agron to deal with this, that he would get emotionally invested as he always did but he also knew that there wasn’t anything else that he could do to ease the issue.

It wasn’t long before Agron finally followed his suggestion and settled in to bed, his head resting upon the pillow, arm wrapping around the little girl who lay beside him. If she were to move in the middle of the night, he would know it. If something were to happen to her, he would know it as well and with that knowledge he was able to finally drift off to sleep.

***

“What’s the matter Agron? It’s not like you to call, is something wrong?” Laeta’s voice was concerned as she spoke. IT was obvious that she didn’t understand what was going on with him that would prompt him to call like this.

“We had a rough night last night.” The words were more of a sigh than anything else as he spoke them. “I guess I was hoping that maybe you could shed some light on the subject.”

“I’ll do what I can, what’s the matter?” Her voice was still concerned as she spoke.

“Well, it’s Emma. She had a nightmare last night, she didn’t say what it was about but afterwards she shook like a leaf, like she was terrified that maybe something was going to attack her from her past.” He knew that it sounded nuts but he was hoping that maybe she would understand what he was talking about right now.

“Well, your brother was the one that called and alerted us to the issue to begin with.” Laeta paused, she had thought that they had spoken to one another about this already and yet she was finding out now that this was not the case. It would be hard to tell him and yet she knew that he needed to know, yet how the hell would she do it?

“What do you mean the issue? He mentioned that there was abuse but, I’m beginning to get the feeling that there was more going on then you are saying.” It was a thought that shook Agron to the bone. This morning when the little girl had woken up she had been her normal bouncy self again but even so, it was obvious that something wasn’t right with her. Maybe it was something from her past, maybe it was something from now but he had to start somewhere and while she was at school, this seemed like the most likely place to start.

“Well, yes, she was physically abused, however that was only the beginning of the abuse she endured.” Laeta sighed. “In the time that she was with us she indicated that they had called her a variety of names as well, thankfully I don’t think that she understood most of them but she said that he aunt once told her she was nothing more than a whore.”

Agron found himself sucking in a breath at the thought alone. How could anyone refer to such a sweet little girl in such a way? “W-why didn’t you…” He was still stammering trying to find what he was thinking and how to express the words.

“Why didn’t I say something? Is that what you’re asking me? I’ve asked myself that a few times, and more than anything when you first took her on, I just wanted to know she was safe, to know that she was in good hands. I figured this day would come, it’s not as soon as I had thought that it would be but it still came.” Laeta did feel bad, as though she should have let them in on what had happened to the little girl and yet with Agron and Nasir she had a fresh start once more.

“You knew that she was safe here with us Laeta, you knew we would never let anything happen to her and yet you still let us falter out here in the wind when it came to this. A-are they looking for her?” He could only imagine how it would be if one of his kids had been taken from him and he was told that he would never see them again.

“Yes, they are looking for her, and I can only imagine that they will stop at nothing in order to get her back.” She hated having to tell him that, she wished she could say that there was nothing to worry about, that the little girl was safe with them and that was all she’d ever be. However that wasn’t the case. She was in danger and he knew that even before she had said it. He and Nasir would have to fight to keep the little girl safe. Even simple things like letting her play out in the yard alone were a danger.

“I will call the school and let them know that she is not to go with anyone other than those who are listed on her emergency contact form.” He knew that he could trust his brother and Saxa or Gannicus to get her without a problem and it would keep someone from signing her out of the school without their knowledge. “Now is there anything else that we need to know about Laeta?”

“Well, no but I will say that you need to be careful Agron. They are not as stable as normal people are. I wish that I could say otherwise but they are very strange people. She is yours, yours and Nasir’s. There is nothing that they can do legally or otherwise in order to change that.” Laeta continued on as he spoke. “I want you to know that, we will not consider taking her from you especially not for them. It is a legal adoption and therefore they cannot do anything about it. However, I wish I could say they were loving people who were going to abide by the laws, that is not the case.”

“I understand Laeta.” Agron knew well what the woman was trying to say and he wished that he could find a way to ease her mind about what was going on with the little girl. “I’m sorry that I was so hard on you.”

“It’s alright Agron, you are right, I should have told you what was going on with her before. I hope that it is not too late to help her, and I hope that my mistake has not cost her many days of happiness.”

“We will see what we can do Laeta, I promise to keep you posted on what ends up happening though.” It was easy to see that she felt  bad and yet that wasn’t what Agron wanted, he wanted her to be alright. He wanted her to be happy for what she had done for Emma and he wasn’t sure how to make that happen.

“I know that you will Agron. You have done amazing things for all of your kids, I do not doubt what you can do for Emma as well. I think as long as we can keep her out of her aunt and uncle’s grips she will be much better off with you than she ever was with her family. Besides, you understand what it is that she has gone through and can help her out when it comes to figuring out how to deal with it.” It was true, he had learned to cope with being abused, treated for dirt, and called every name in the book.

In fact he would never forget the first time that his father had found out that he was gay. He’d told him that he was nothing more than a faggot who deserved to rot in hell. Perhaps that was why Agron had tried so hard to be straight for as long as he did, he had wanted to be what his father wanted him to be and yet even when he tried, he found that he couldn’t be and had instead become his own person, a person that he was proud to be now.


	18. Chapter 18

“Thank you Laeta.” Agron knew that it couldn’t be easy for her or the little girl but he needed this information in order to make things easier for Emma in order to live happily.

“You’re welcome Agron. Call if you need anything else, you have my number at home if there’s anything at all I can do.” The woman would do anything in order to see the girl happy which meant that he had to do what was best for her and in this instance that was exactly what he was doing right now.

***

“Hey Em.” Agron offered a grin as he scooped the little girl up within his arms, holding her close to him. Eva had gone to the stables to put in some work for Saxa and Sibyl with Derrick and Nasir had taken Lea to dance and Aerlia to her singing lessons which meant that they had some time together in order to get to know one another better.

“Hi. Is Austen still sleeping?” Emma was busy trying to adjust her backpack off of her back as they walked back towards the house. The one thing that Emma had never been was ashamed of her relationship with Agron or Nasir.

“Yea, he’s still laying down for his nap. Soon he’ll be up and ready to play but I was just wondering if maybe you were interested in a couple of cookies, some milk and maybe someone to talk to.” Agron’s words were gentle as he opened the front door once more, he knew that she loved playing with her little brother when there was no one else home but Agron hoped that maybe he could get her to talk now that she was alone.

“Did daddy make the cookies?? Are they chocolate chip??” The little girl’s eyes lit up as she thought about it.

“No actually I made them but they are chocolate chip and they should still be warm and kind of gooey.” Agron knew well enough that was the way that she liked her cookies and he was glad that he could make it better for her.

“Yea, I like that way. Do you think instead of milk we could put ice cream on it and maybe some syrup?” Her pale blue eyes turned up to look at him, he was convinced that Nasir was making a valid attempt at teaching her the puppy dog eyes.

“As long as you don’t tell daddy.” Agron grinned, placing a kiss upon her cheek before he set her down in the kitchen on the floor. Opening the freezer he grabbed the ice cream and the syrup out of the fridge before he moved over to the table, setting it down before grabbing a couple of bowls and spoons. “Alright, so how was your day?”

“It was good but I was tired from not sleeping well last nights.” Emma watched as he began to prepare her sundae for her.

“Well, that was what I wanted to talk to you about Emma.” He set a sundae in front of her before starting on his own. “I want you to know that you’re never going to leave us honey, you’re ours now. No matter what happens, your Aunt and Uncle will never ever get you back, they cant hurt you anymore.” Reaching out he set his hand upon hers as well. “It’s ok little one, I promise.”

“They were means.” Emma pouted as she began to eat some of her sundae. “I-I was scareds of them, I didn’t knows what to dos until you tooked me ins.”

Agron felt his heart break as he listened to the little girl. How in the world could anyone do that to such a sweet little girl? She was so innocent and yet they had hurt her in ways that many couldn’t yet see.

“They cant hurt you anymore, I promise.” Agron’s voice was steady as he spoke wanting to make her understand what he was saying. “Nasir and I would do anything to make sure that you are just fine, you will get the best of everything when it comes to this family and I will personally make sure that they don’t touch you.” Agron would do anything to make sure that she was ok as well as Nasir and the rest of the kids. That was something that he prided himself in, allowing nothing to happen to the people that he loved and cared about.

They finished their sundaes in the silence that ensued and not long afterward they had settled in at the table working on Emma’s homework together.

“Daddy, I don’t have school tomorrow why do I haves to do this  nows!” The little girl was like any other, she hated homework and wished that she would never again have to do it, yet that wasn’t an option.

“Because, if you don’t then you’ll have to do it later on this weekend. However if you do it now then you’ll be able to enjoy the entire weekend and you wont have to do anything that has to do with school. Would you rather just do it now or do it later?” He figured that he knew the answer but he felt the need to ask anyways.

“Nows.” Emma sighed, her arms crossing across her chest as she did. She didn’t really want to do it now but she also didn’t want to do it later on either.

“I thought that you might say that.”

***

“Are you checking my ass out again?” Gannicus tossed a grin over his shoulder in Agron’s direction. “I mean not much has changed since we were in college.”

“Oh, no, believe me I’ve seen you in enough different stages of being dressed that nothing is left up to the imagination anymore.” A laugh slipped through Agron’s lips as he leaned back into the lawn chair as Gannicus stood before him at the grill.

“A valid point I suppose.” Gannicus could only imagine what he had gotten into while he was drunk in college but from what he had heard from Agron, he had found his fair share of trouble which meant that he would some day have to make it all up to him one of these days.

“More than a valid point, now we simply have to figure out what we’re going to do with two kids who can drive and are dating.” Agron was having trouble with the fact that Eva was now driving, still enjoying her relationship with Travis and he was the best thing for her.

“Ugh, I’m all for tying them both up in their rooms until they’re old enough to date.” A laugh slipped through the blonde’s lips as he turned back to the grill before him, curls bobbing as he moved. “It’s not ever going to be easy but I think it’s time that we realize that they’re both in love and that these might be the people that they’re going to spend the rest of their lives with. Hey, where the hell is your brother at anyways? He was supposed to stop in for steak.”

“That reminds me, he said to tell you that he’d be a little late. One of the girls was giving him a hard time and he wanted to make sure that everything was alright before he left her with Kat.” That was one of the things that Agron admired most about his brother, he would do almost anything in order to make sure that his wife didn’t have to deal with the girls when they were having a rough day. Especially since she had started having health issues and he wouldn’t let her get run down because she was trying to take care of the kids.

“And Nasir didn’t want to come?” Gannicus was sure that it was something like that but it was a little odd that the man hadn’t wanted to join them for their weekly boys night of steaks, cards and liquor.

“No, he was more interested in staying home with the girls and trying his hardest to keep things together. I think he feels like if it hadn’t been for him working then all he would have is them and that’s part of the problem really.” Agron sighed taking a sip from the beer in his hand. “And what about Crixus? Where’s he at?”

“He muttered something about having a few house calls to make and then he’d be here when he was done.” Gannicus sank into the other deck chair, letting out a semi dramatic sigh. “And Saxa went out to Sibyl’s, they’re finally getting along again and I wont deny them seeing one another if that’s the way it works out I guess.”

“I never understand with you guys. Who’s sleeping with who again?” Agron raised an eye brow. He wasn’t trying to insult the man, in fact it was the exact opposite and he wanted nothing more then an answer to the question.

“It’s kind of a triangle thing, no one person is sleeping with just one more, it really is more complicated then anyone understands it to be.” Gannicus offered a grin shaking his head. “It’s every guys greatest dream and yet it’s their worst nightmare all at the same time.”

“I’ve heard that about my relationship. Oh wait no, that’s someone saying that it’s every girl’s greatest dream and every man’s worst nightmare.” Agron shook his head settling back against the chair once more. “How do we always manage to get to topics like this?” Agron couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled from within as he looked at Gannicus.

“I’m not sure how we always get here, I’m sure that it has something to do with your curiosity I guess.” Gannicus found no issue in talking about his sex life with another person but that was the way that he was and he knew that Agron had no problems with it either however they all had ground rules as to where to stop as well.

“My curiosity? My curiosity? I am not the one who called and asked if we owned a copy of the Kama Sutra that you could borrow.” Agron laughed shaking his head as he looked at the other man. He was like his brother and that was something that Gannicus knew and as such they often had several conversations such as this but it bothered neither one of them like it did when it was Duro who was asking. Instead they often times bounced things off of one another for that very reason.

“Hey, that was Saxa’s idea. She figured you and Nasir were into that kind of thing.” Gannicus shrugged. He saw no reason to be embarrassed by it, he was who he was and no one was going to change that.

“It’s always Saxa’s idea.” Crixus’ voice made them both nearly jump out of the chair. “I see that the youngest of the bunch is late as always.”

“He was trying to settle one of the girls down before he left. I got the impression that the stomach bug that’s going around hit the house. He said Faith and Karlee are doing ok but he said Annie and Kat are pretty sick.” Agron sighed holding a beer out to Crixus. “And how are things with you? I mean you look like death but hey that’s what not sleeping does for you I guess.”

“Things are alright. Nae’s taking some time off from work, a mini vacation of sorts I guess.” Crixus could only shrug as he looked at him. “You know how that is. Amelia is having a rough time now that Kai is seeing someone and so is Eva but I think in time she will adjust to that as well. Gods I never thought having a teenager could possibly be this tough.” Sinking into a chair, Crixus took the beer from Agron.

“We were just saying the same thing.” Gannicus laughed. “I feel horrible for my mother after dealing with Kai sometimes but I still wouldn’t change anything that I’ve ever done.”

“And it’s a damn good thing because who knows where you would have ended up if it wasn’t for those things that you’ve done. For the love of gods where is Duro?” Agron grumbled grabbing his phone before he dialed his brother’s number pressing his phone to his ear. “Yo Duro where are you?”

“Annie’s having a hard time, I’ll be there in a little while.” Duro sounded tired as he spoke with his older brother. It wasn’t hard to see that he knew that Agron wished he would be there and he wanted to be just as bad but he also knew that the young girl was his responsibility and he needed to take care of that first.

“Alright, it’s alright….we’ll live till you get here. It’s almost her bed time after all.” Leaning back in the chair, Agron found his eyes closing for a minute. “Now if you don’t show up in the next ohhhhh hour we’ll eat without you.”

Duro allowed a laugh to slip between his lips. “I know Aggie, I wouldn’t expect any less from you guys. I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise. Kat’s starting to feel better so it shouldn’t be much longer.”

“Alright Duro, give them both our best.” His voice was gentle as he spoke. He knew that his little brother was truly alright but he needed to get away from everything that was going on at home for awhile and that was all he wanted to do for him.

“Will do. Later Aggie.” With that Duro was gone and Agron was setting the phone back on the deck table.

“Soooo where’s your brother?” Gannicus’ eyes fell upon him surprising Agron, for a moment he had forgotten that he was there, that they had surprised him from his thoughts.

“Still at home. Annie should be asleep in a little bit and he’ll be here.” Agron offered his eyes adjusting to look at the man who was sitting across from him now. “He did say that Kat was feeling better so that’s a start at least.”

The conversation ensued, drifting from the kids to work, to life in general and an hour later Duro was walking through the door. “Alright, sorry about that, Annies been kind of tough today and she wouldn’t let me leave the house until she was asleep.”

“No problem. Steaks are on the grill and they should be done soon.” Gannicus grinned. “And your brothers down about $20 so far, has he always been this poor at lying.”

“Yup.” Duro laughed sinking into a chair at the table. It made him feel better, the stresses of keeping up with the girls and the house and work got to him sometimes and he just needed out for a little while.

“And to think you want another one.” Agron laughed as he looked up at his brother folding the hand that he had before he leaned back in the chair, hands wrapped behind his head as he looked at him.

“I do still want another one.” Duro nodded. “A little boy, a sweet little boy of my own. IT’s not that I don’t love what I do at home, I really do but sometimes I just need to pack up my stuff and walk out the door and get away.”

“You know you’re always welcome at my place.” Agron shook his head as he looked at him.

“And here.” Gannicus chorused.

“And you’re more than welcome to escape at our house.” Crixus shrugged. “You just have to get used to having me around.”

“Yea, the first two might not be so bad but Crixus I love you and all man, yet I just don’t know if I can deal with you anymore than I see you.” His words were playful and he was sure that Crixus knew it.

“That’s alright cause I’m not sure I could deal with you either dude.” The words were just as playful as Crixus sighed folding the cards. “You in this hand or what?”

“That depends, Gannicus still winning?” They all knew the answer, the man always won no matter what happened and they were still trying to figure out how but he always seemed to make it work.

“Yup.” Agron sighed as he looked at the cards. “You might as well play, it’s not like we’re losing a whole lot anymore. Not like we used to anyways.”

“That’s because he’s not distracting us with drunk women anymore because we’re already married.” Duro laughed shaking his head as he looked from Gannicus to his brother.

“Hey I tried not to but distracting you was the easiest way of going about it.” Gannicus laughed taking a sip from the beer that was sitting in front of him. “It was either that or we were going to have to actually learn how to stack the deck or something.”

At the thought alone Agron rolled his eyes and dropped the cards again. “Fuck at some point you’d think that I might have actually found semi decent cards. I’m still not sure that you cant actually stack the deck already.”

“Well hey even if I could I’d have found a better way to do it.” Gannicus shrugged before he moved to pull the steaks off the grill. “Chow time boys.” He knew that the conversation that would follow would probably be one of the oddest that they had ever had but he was used to that anyways.

“Thank god because I’m with Agron, that hand sucked.” Duro sighed tossing the hand in as well, followed closely by Crixus.

“So you think that Annie’s going to have a fit once she realizes that you’re gone?”

“Nah, she aught to be good for Kat, she’s not feeling very good but she’ll probably still crawl up on the bed with her and go back to sleep.” Duro sighed his eyes closing for a minute. He loved the little girl but she could be a bit of a handful as well.

“So where’s that leave you sleeping tonight?” Crixus’ eyebrows rose as he looked at the man laughing as he did.

“Probably on the couch, but honestly I don’t really mind that. I’ll sleep wherever I fall tonight really. If it means that Annie will sleep good tonight then I don’t mind her sleeping in our bed tonight. Hell maybe I’ll join them in bed.” Duro shrugged thoughts turning to the little girl.

She was so precious, he hated to see her sick like this but there were still a few nights where she would come in with her teddy bear clung to her chest crying and she’s crawl in bed with them and finally go back to sleep settled in between them. If that was what it took to keep her asleep tonight then that was what she would also get.

“You know, I kind of miss those days. Bree doesn’t crawl in bed with us anymore.” Gannicus sighed as he looked at the men in front of him, it wasn’t like he normally enjoyed showing emotions but with the men in front of him, he knew that he was safe.

“Lea’s never been big on crawling in bed with us but Emma and Aerlia both do from time to time. Especially when they’re having a nightmare or something and then they come to bed with us.” Agron didn’t mind cuddling one of the girls, making sure that they were alright and he would do it gladly whenever they wished for it.

“You know, I don’t have any young enough to go to bed with so it’s not exactly something that I miss.” Crixus laughed as he took a sip from the beer. “Alton is old enough and he’s stubborn enough that he doesn’t come to bed with us anymore and Amelia well that would just be weird and all sooooo that doesn’t happen either.”

“Don’t you miss the days of having a young one in the house?” The question was posed by Agron but it was a question that they all wondered. Naevia had several times expressed her want for another child and yet Crixus still fought it. He felt like he wasn’t home enough during the day for such a thing and neither was she so what would that do for a child then?

“I do but I still say that neither one of us is home enough to have a baby in the house again.” Crixus sighed shaking his head. He had thought that they would be the last people that he would ever have to explain himself to but it was seeming as though it was the opposite.

Agron sighed as his phone went buzzing across the table, which saved Crixus from having to defend himself any further. The laugh that was emitted from his chest though as he read the message from Nasir was one that made the other three men quirk an eyebrow.

“Feel like sharing?” Gannicus asked. He was the blunt one of the group though which was obvious to anyone who saw them all together but this was even more so than normal.

“Yea. Nasir said that Emma and Aerlia are begging him about getting a bunny rabbit. Who suggested a bunny rabbit to two little girls like that?” Agron sighed rubbing at his eyes. “The dogs will obviously try and eat a bunny rabbit anyways, this is ridiculous.”

“So tell them no. They’ll get over it soon enough and they’ll move on with their sweet little lives.” Duro shrugged. He knew that his brother had trouble telling them no but he would do it if he absolutely had to and in this case a no was probably the best option for the girls. “It’s either that or you’re going to have the poor little animal eaten and then how would they feel? I mean can you see their heart broken little faces if their bunny was eaten?”

Agron nodded as he looked at Duro. “Oh I can see it believe me. That’s part of the problem, I mean if they were to be heart broken now I’m not sure that we could ever make it up to them.”

“So no bunny then?” Gannicus asked. “I mean not that I don’t think that the horse wouldn’t not eat it or anything.” It was obvious that the man still hadn’t forgiven the dog for stealing his bed while they were away and it would be a long time before he really did forgive him.


	19. Chapter 19

“No, no bunny then. There’s already too much going on at home as it is. I’ve got one with a lose tooth, two getting teeth; Eva’s upset because her and Travis are having a fight. It’s just another day in paradise around our house.” Agron rolled his eyes. He loved his life, wouldn’t change it for anything but every now and then he did get frustrated including today.

“And you left Nasir to deal with it all?” Duro rolled his eyes as he looked at his older brother. Agron could be overly dramatic at times but Duro knew well the trials of having kids as did the other men.

“He insisted that I leave.”

“Ah back to the insisting thing again.” Gannicus shook his head, blonde curls flying as he did. “What did you do this time that has him insisting that you leave the house?”

“Mmmm he said I wasn’t getting enough time away or something of the nature anyways.” Agron knew that it was probably true but he hated hearing Nasir tell him to go out and do something. More than anything though he hated leaving Nasir at home to fend for himself when it came to the kids. They could be a handful at times and he knew that much.

“So it’s a good thing that Naevia decided that she’d take the kids and give Nasir the night off as well?” Crixus grinned. “He shouldn’t be far behind.” He was glad to be able to offer some comfort to the men and ease the stress that they were feeling and allow them to be together as well.

“What?” Agron was confused now, he didn’t know what to think. His eyes fell upon Crixus before he nodded his head. “Thank you.” His words were genuine and he couldn’t help the feeling of excitement that was beginning to well inside of him now.

“No problem you guys would do the same thing for us and I know that so whatever makes you guys happy.” Crixus laughed, head leaning back as his head leaned back over the back of the chair he was sitting in to look at Nasir who was just sliding the back door shut behind himself. “You here to give Agron a loan?”

“Still losing huh?” Nasir asked leaning on the back of Agron’s chair, his hands coming to rest upon the man’s shoulders rubbing lightly at them before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Oh and Crixus, thank you. I was ready to ground Eva when Naevia got there.”

“You mean you were in on this too?” Agron’s eyes turned up to Nasir, eyes wide with surprise as he looked up at Nasir. The man had never been very good at keeping secrets and this one surprised Agron, was it possible that Nasir had finally done it?

“I knew too just incase you really wanted to know.” Gannicus shrugged as he looked at him. “I mean, it’s not like there was a bill board or anything but everyone who needed to know knew.”

“Well, don’t feel bad little brother because they didn’t tell me either. Then again they rarely call me to tell me anything.”

“Well, perhaps if you answered when I called, you might know more about what’s going on.” Nasir playfully stuck his tongue out before he sank into Agron’s lap leaning against him as he did. There was no reaction from the other men, it was as if none of them batted an eye at the two of them together.

“Annie’s been sick, really sick, I just figured that if it was important you’d either leave a message or you’d show up on my door step.” Duro’s shrug made him wonder why Nasir hadn’t considered it himself. “And poor Kat’s been in bed more than out of bed. I’m not even sure that she was this sick when she was pregnant the last time.”

“And you left her alone with kids?” Gannicus was confused, his eyebrows rising to meet his forehead, blonde hair falling in his eyes as he did.

“She’s doing a lot better right now. With any hope she’ll be better sooner rather than later.” Duro hated the accusation that maybe there was some type of neglect on his part because there was anything but. He wanted to make it well known that he could enjoy his friends and still take care of family. When he had left, Annie, Faith and Karlee had been tucked into bed and Kat was tucked in as well, though she had been sipping at some soup broth and reading a book in bed but she was content which made him feel better about everything that was going on.

“Just don’t let her do too much.” Crixus offered a smile, no matter how much time he spent out of work, Crixus was bound to end up giving someone some kind of medical advice. “If she rushes it now, it’ll take her longer to get better. The kids are asleep so she should be fine tonight and that’s all that anyone really needs.”

“Just take a deep breath and everything will be alright.” Agron laughed as he looked at his little brother. He knew that the man was having a hard time trying to balance everything and Agron had been there once before and he knew that it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. “You’re doing the right thing, don’t sweat it Duro.”

***

“Daddy it hurts.” Aerlia pouted as she poked her tongue through the hole that she had just the day before made by pulling out one of her baby teeth. It had broken Agron’s heart to see her lose her first tooth but even more her fussy attitude had made it even worse now.

“What did your dad tell you?” Nasir sighed, his hand running through his hair as he looked at her. He had been in the middle of getting ready for the day when she had wandered in and hopped up on the bathroom counter to keep him company.

“Not to plays with it.” She sighed her head dropping so that she didn’t look at him. “Daddy why aren’t you wearing a shirts?” It was a question that made him laugh as he looked at the little girl.

“Because I just got out of the shower and I was only half dressed when you decided that you were going to wander in.” He wasn’t trying to be mean to her, he was simply trying to explain her question to her as well.

“Ohs.” Her eyes turned up to look at him, watching as he pulled the brush through his hair, pausing as he found a knot to work it out. “Why donts you ever wears your hairs down?”

“Because then it ends up in my face and it bothers me, so it’s just easier to pull it back and then I don’t have to worry about it.” Nasir leaned against the counter besides her offering a smile. “You know, you haven’t mentioned your tooth in awhile now. I guess the cure is to just not think about it and then you can forget that it hurts.”

“Otays.” Aerlia sighed, her head hanging as she looked at the man. “I will leaves you alones.” She pushed herself down off the cabinet and was halfway across the room when Nasir spoke again.

“You can stay Aerlia, you aren’t bothering me.” Nasir’s fingertips moved into his hair, pulling back the locks before he used a hair tie to pull it back and to put it back up on top of his head once more. “I’m just finishing getting ready for the day. I think that your dad is in the living room if you want someone to keep you company. If that’s not what you’re looking for then you’re welcome to tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t gets to see you very muchs so I wanted to spends some time with you.” Aerlia sniffled as she looked up at him, tiny little tears starting to form in her eyes as she looked up at him.

“Oh Aery.” Nasir found himself turning away from the mirror to pick the little girl up in his arms, holding her close to him. “I’ve missed you baby girl and I’m glad that you came to spend time with me.” In truth he missed all of his kids when he couldn’t spend time with them and that made it hard to not feel bad for the little girl as she looked at him like this.

“Will you leaves your hairs down?” She was playing with the ends of his hair adoring them as she looked up at him. Much like Agron she had come to love her father with his hair down despite his constant insistence that it was a pain or it ended up in the way.

“For now I will yes.” He reached up with one hand pulling it down. If it would make her happy then he would allow her to enjoy it for awhile even if he hated it. He knew that Agron would enjoy it as well and that would make him happy, however half the time Agron found it to be a turn on as well but they would cross that bridge when they got there. “So what would you like to do today?”

“Hmmmm…can we goes to the park?”

“That sounds like a great idea, why don’t you go see what your sisters think of it while I go and ask your dad?” Many would ask if he was trying to get rid of her but it was the exact opposite. He would ask Agron if he wanted to go with them, if not then he would take them on his own. Eva was out working at the stables with Derrick and the pair of them would be gone until later that day which left them with the young ones and the park seemed like a good idea to him.

“Otay!” The little girl scampered from the room as he set her on the floor once more.

Moving into the living room Nasir wasn’t surprised to find Agron laying on the couch with a book with Austen curled up under his arm, the little boy listening as Agron read the story to him. It wasn’t the normal murder mysteries that Agron was used to reading but it was a change that he was willing to make for the little boy.

“Got room for me?” Nasir asked settling in at the other end of the couch, dark eyes watching the two of them still. “I wanna talk about something that Aerlia asked me.”

“What’s up?” Agron asked, eyes turning up from the book in front of him as he heard him speak. They were words that concerned him and he wanted to be sure that everything was ok.

“Aery wants to know if we can go to the park. If you want to go with us then you can but if not you’re welcome to stay here while it’s quiet and read a book or something and I’ll take the kids with.” His fingertips ran over Agron’s ankle, finger tips teasing as he moved them knowing that the man enjoyed so much about his fingertips on his skin.

“No, no I’ll go.” He offered a smile as he looked at him. He knew that the little girl loved going to the park but more than anything else Agron wanted to see her happy. She loved having Emma to play with and she was happy to have her friend here but she also wanted to spend time with Agron and Nasir which meant that he would do this for her.

“Alright.” A smile formed on his lips as he looked at the little boy who ws nestled under Agron’s arm. “What do you think Austen, would you like to go with us huh little guy?”

Hoping down off the couch the little boy returned with his shoes in hand looking up at the two of them, waiting for one of them to put them on for him. He didn’t say anything, but instead simply waited. “Dadada.” He finally began to babble hands waving as he tried to express his irritation.

“Well come here and I’ll put them on for you.” Nasir shook his head, watching the little boy. He loved him and was surprised by how much he had grown up in the last year.

The little boy set the shoes in Nasir’s lap before crawling up beside him, sitting there patiently watching as he waited for him, feet twitching impatiently as Agron laughed. “I think he’s mad at you for not putting his shoes on just yet.”

“He gets that from his mother I think.” Nasir teased as he attempted to hold one of Austen’s feet still in order to put his little sandals on. “Just sit still for a minute little guy.”

“I don’t really think he knows anything about patience, you should have heard him this morning while I was trying to get his breakfast ready. He didn’t once cry but he’d pull at my pant leg and babble and try to make me go faster. Isnt that right little guy?” Taking the other shoe, Agron managed to put it on his foot even though Nasir was still fighting to put his on.

“Well it doesn’t help that he really doesn’t like his shoes.” It was true, it was normal to find his tiny shoes scattered about the house because he no longer wanted to wear them. As such, they’d finally stopped putting them on for him until just before they left so that his shoes didn’t come up missing anymore.

“”He loves his shoes when he knows that we’re going somewhere.” Agron’s shrug made Nasir smile. “So what say we stop and get ice cream too?” The young kids all enjoyed ice cream including the little boy who now sat between them.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Wes readys!” Emma and Aerlia were just rushing into the room giggling as they did.

“Where’s Lea?” Nasir asked as he looked at the tiny girls. It wasn’t like them to forget about her but obviously they had this time.

“O-Oh..” Emma paused looking at Aerlia, lip sticking out as he did. “I-I forgotted to asks hers about it.”

“Well then go and get your sister.” Agron laughed as he looked at them both. “Go on, we cant go anywhere until you do.”

Nasir laughed as the two of them went running off to find their sister. “What would we do without them? Our lives would be so boring, we might still be fighting to get through what the world gave us and how we should live our lives out.”

“I gave that up the day I met you.” Agron’s emerald eyes turned up to look at him, love showing within them. “Because with you by my side it didn’t matter what anyone had ever done to me, said to me or said about me. I could do anything as long as you’re still here for me.”

“Oh, Agron.” Nasir was taken aback; he didn’t expect him to say anything like this but the words echoed his own sentiments. Nasir knew that he owed Agron much of his life and he felt stronger with him at his side.

“I mean it.” The words were a whisper as he looked at him.

“Daddy!” Emma came bounding in, her eyes falling upon them both as she grinned happily.

“What? What’s up little one?” Nasir turned to look at her.

“Lea says she wants to gos too.” She stood before them now arms crossed, her little attitude showing as she looked at them. It was a look that made Agron realize that they were all in drastic danger if they ever thought that they were going to get out of her being a trouble maker later on in life.

“Alright go and get your sisters and we’ll go.” Agron grinned propping Austen up on his hip once he’d gotten up. “Little man’s car seat is in my car so I’ll take him with me, you want me to take one of the girls too?”

“Nah, I’ve  got them but doesn’t Eva have your car?” He knew that the girl had gone out to work earlier that morning and he figured that she’d taken his car like she always did.

“She took the Charger this morning.” Agron seemed so calm about the statement as he picked his keys up, along with his wallet and phone.

“She took the what?”

“She took the Charger?” Agron knew that he wasn’t looking for him to repeat himself but he’d repeated himself for a reason. He hoped that maybe it would make more sense to Nasir the second time. He hated leaving the car in the garage but it just wasn’t practical with young kids and he knew that soon Eva would be looking for a car of her own. In that spirit he had allowed her to take the car out to enjoy the day with her brother.

“Right, I heard you the first time, I just wasn’t sure if that was really what you’d said or not.” Nasir was surprised. Duro was really the only one that Agron allowed to take the car out normally and now here he was letting the girl who’d just gotten her license to take it out.

“Yea, what good is it doing me sitting here?” Agron shrugged. “I’ve thought about giving it to her honestly but I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. It used to be my baby long before she ever was and now, well now I’m not sure what to think. They’re all my kids, all more important than the car will ever be, even though I enjoy it. I do like having it and I do enjoy driving it but my kids come first I guess.”

“Understandable, I’m just surprised, that’s all. I figured with all the dirt and the dust and all of that kind of stuff you’d be having a fit. I can just see one of the horses kicking up a stone and chipping the paint or the windshield.” Nasir was having a hard time putting all the pieces together, this seemed like an odd thing for Agron to do, even though Eva was his oldest and often times the one that he worried about most since she was also the one who had been through hell.

“It’s not the first time she’s taken it.” Agron shrugged seeming unphased by what Nasir had just said. “If something happens to it then we’ll take care of it then.” It didn’t seem to upset him or surprise him.

“Alright.” Nasir nodded as the young girls came bouncing into the room.

“We’re all readys!” Lea giggled as she looked at him throwing her arms around Nasir’s leg. It was tough for her to go to school, she had few friends because as one of the little boys had pointed out, she didn’t look like the other kids. However, not only did he refuse to let her play with him, he’d called her names and been mean to her. For awhile, Lea had insisted that she didn’t belong with the family as none of her siblings were anything like her. However, Nasir had finally gotten her to understand that he was just like her and that she did still belong with them. It had taken awhile but she had finally begun to understand and eventually she had gotten over it, even though she still had few friends.

“Alright, I’ll meet you at the park.” Agron offered a smile as he looked down at the little boy on his hip. “You ready to go?” He laughed as the little boy began to tug at his shirt. “Huh little guy?”

***

“Bruder!” Duro’s squeal as he practically tackled Agron to the ground surprised him. “How are you? I’ve missed you.”

“What do you want Duro?” Agron asked suspiciously, his eyes drifting over the girls who were now happily playing with their cousins on the swings.

“I don’t want anything, I just haven’t seen you lately and I was hoping that maybe you would come and see us soon that’s all.”

“Uh right.” Agron was trying to think of the last time he had seen his brother and perhaps Duro was right, things had been busy in both of their lives and they hadn’t seen much of one another. “So what brings you out to the park? “

“The girls have been buggy all day and Kore had a dr’s appointment so I thought maybe a trip to the park would tire them out.”

“How’s she doing?” Nasir asked as he moved over to the pair, Austen balanced on his hip, beginning to fall asleep against his shoulder. “I mean I know it cant be easy for her but, is she alright?”

“Yea, she’s doing ok. She’s a little tired, she’s taking more time to herself but she’s decided that she’d like to keep the young one, even if the scum bag wont have anything to do with her.” Duro shook his head as he looked at him. “So, her and Kat are busy turning the guest room into a nursery, and I cant say that I’ve ever seen either one of them as happy as they are. I think that Kat misses having a baby in the house, she’s been digging out any of the baby clothes and such that are neutral from when the girls were tiny, hoping that it’ll help her out some.”

“We’ve still got Austen’s packed away as well if it will help. I don’t think we will have wee ones running about for awhile so if she can use it then she’s more than welcome to it, once she finds out what she’s having.” Agron would happily help if there was something that he could do for the woman.

“I will pass the message on. We’ve got a girl covered pretty well but if we need anything in particular I will let you know.” Duro nodded settling in on the bench beside Agron and Nasir. “Gods are we ever getting old.”

Agron couldn’t help but laugh as he looked at his brother. “We’re only as old as we feel, and I’ll be honest, I feel pretty good. In fact I’m not sure that I’ve felt this good in a long time now.” Scooping Austen from Nasir’s arms, he allowed the little boy to settle in against his shoulder his body rocking as he moved, trying to put the little boy to sleep. The girls had moved from the swing set to the merry go round and were happily giggling as they sat on the edge talking about something that obviously entertained them.

“Yea well, your little ones keep you young, that much is obvious.” Duro laughed, his hand setting upon his brother’s shoulder as he looked at him. “And when it comes to that little boy, I’ve never seen you so happy Aggie. He’s a beautiful little guy and he’s got a decent temperament, however I can only imagine that every once and a while he gets like Saxa.” A laugh slipped through his lips shaking his head.

“He’s my baby boy and I cant imagine what my life would be like without him.” Agron’s eyes turned down to look at the little boy who was beginning to fall asleep in his arms. “After seeing him, knowing he was mine, I just don’t understand how anyone could even consider giving up their child.”

“You mean like Aerlia?” Nasir knew what he was talking about and it was equally as confusing for him. He couldn’t imagine why anyone would have wanted to give the tiny little girl up without a fight.

“Yea, like Aerlia.” Agron sighed shaking his head watching the little blonde playing with her sisters and cousins. It was good to see them happy and playful not seeming to know a care in the world, instead they were busy playing and laughing.

“I’ll never understand it myself.” Duro sighed, offering a smile as Faith crawled up in his lap. “I thought that you were playing huh?” He laughed hugging her close to him. While he didn’t play favorites with any of his kids, she was the one who often times got more attention but it was because she sought it out too.

“Sissy says I’m stupids.” Faith shrugged as she looked at him. “Sos I decided I wouldn’t plays with them until she says she’s sorry.”

“Karlee!” Duro’s voice made the girl cover her ears as he yelled after her. “What do you think you’re doing calling your sister stupid?”

“Duro, Duro.” Agron sighed. “That’s not how you deal with something like this. Karlee come here.” Taking a deep breath, he eyed his niece whom most wouldn’t be able to tell her apart from her little sister but Agron had them pretty well figured out by now.

“Yeses Uncle Agron?” The little girl looked up at him, hands folded in front of herself, trying her best to look innocent as she looked at him.

“Why did you tell Faith that she was stupid?” Agron continued on knowing that Duro had a habit of losing his cool in situations like this and wanting to keep him calm.

“Well she wases being stupids.” Karlee had obviously inherited the tell it like it is attitude from her father and he was finally beginning to understand how his mother had felt so many times during their childhood.

“Karlee, we all do stupid things in our lives sometimes but the important thing is that we need to make our family know that we’re there for them and that doesn’t mean that you call them stupid.” Agron offered a smile as he looked at the little girl. “Do you think that maybe you can tell her that you’re sorry? Tell her that you didn’t mean to upset her?”

“Otays.” Faith let out a little sigh, her hands dropping to her sides as she looked up at her little sister. “I sowwys, yous not stupids. Wills you come and plays with us?”

“Otays.” Faith nodded hopping down off of Duro’s lap before she scampered off to play with the other girls as well.

“You’re so calm.” Duro shook his head. “It’s obvious that I got dad’s temper even if I don’t use it in the same ways that he did. You on the other hand can deal with the kids calmly and coolly, I wish you could explain to me how you do it.”

“It takes time, and practice and don’t worry, there are plenty of times where I get short on patience and snap at them when I shouldn’t.” Agron laughed sitting back on the bench as he looked down at the little boy who was sleeping in his arms. “You’ll get there Duro,and you’ve said it time and time again, they can be tough to deal with since they have attention issues but you know what Duro?”

“Huh?”

“You’re doing the best that you can and no one can fault you for that Bruder.”

Nasir was nodding as Agron spoke. It was true, Agron did have a gift for dealing with the kids, and it was also true that he had more than once lost his patience but it would take them time to get to that place for Duro, especially since the girls were hyperactive and it was that much easier to lose his temper. “You’re an amazing father Duro, there is no question about that since you’ve managed to get them to be the wonderful human beings that they are.”

“Thanks guys.” Duro offered a smile as he looked at them both. “It means a lot to me. I don’t always have very much faith in myself and sometimes I think that I’m doing more harm than I am good to them.”

“Don’t worry Duro, you’re one of the best people there are in this world, don’t you dare ever think that your influences are no good for those girls. They will grow up great under your influence.” Agron offered a grin wrapping his arm around his brother before he pulled him close to him once more, pulling him into a hug. “Maybe you should talk to your wife about it?”

“You know how Kat is.” Duro shrugged as he looked at the man. “She can be kind of hard to deal with at times, and god knows that I love her to death but, I swear to god when ever I talk to her, it’s like she’s analyzing what exactly I’m trying to say without saying it. Sometimes I just want to talk through something and with her that’s not really an option.”

“Well you know that we’re always there for you Duro.” Nasir offered a smile as he looked at the brothers. They were so similar and yet they were so different at the same time. Agron was often times the hot headed one who didn’t back down to anyone, especially when his family was the intended target. Duro however was the fun loving goofy one who did nothing but love his family and he would give everything for anyone that he loved.

The people that they had fallen in love with were the exact opposite of their personalities. Nasir completed Agron, he was peaceful, easy to deal with and he rarely got upset and let his temper get in the way of what he was trying to do. Kat was fiery and had a temper that caused her to often times stand up and toe off with even Agron if her family was involved. “I know that, I want to talk to her, I really do, I just don’t know how to say it yet.” He sighed, thinking about it as he eyed Agron and then Nasir for a moment. “It’s tough sometimes living with a psychiatrist.”

“I know Duro, she does it to us too.” Agron shook his head. “Why don’t we invite you all back to the house for dinner tonight and then you can figure things out from there. I know that Kat said she was going to do paperwork today, I’m sure that she wont feel like cooking. You can even invite Kore to come and join us, it’ll be good for her and the kids miss seeing her, so I’m sure that they would be just as happy to see her as she would be to see them.”

“He’s right, I’ll even make her favorite if that’ll make her feel better.” Nasir offered a smile as he looked at the man, leaning over to pat him on the shoulder. “I told you Duro, if you don’t feel like cooking, you might as well call cause I cook for an army that would certainly do well in the military.”

“I know Nasir but I cant put you out, it’s just how I am.” Duro shrugged as he looked at the man he had come to find as his brother-in-law and then his brother. “But if you’re sure about tonight, I’ll call and let the girls know.” He knew that Kat would fuss and tell him that she would cook something and pretend like she could handle everything that was going on. However, Agron knew better than to even pretend that there wasn’t something going on at home. That something was that they were both over worked, over stressed and Duro was trying his hardest to hold his life together. In this case though, he knew his brother would survive which didn’t bother him but he did wonder if it was going to be ok in the end, or would his brother try to self destruct again? He would do anything to help him through this situation, whatever it should happen to be.

“We’re positive Duro, now just make the damn phone call.” Agron offered a smile trying his hardest to make his brother smile as well. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded but he was rewarded to see Duro laugh and nod as he looked at the man.

“Alright, I’ll call them and let them know.” Duro pulled his phone from within his pocket dialing Kat’s number before he waited on her to answer. “Hey baby, it’s me, just calling to let you know that Agron decided that they’re cooking for us tonight sooo if you happen to get off early let us know and we’ll go from there ok?”

“Yea, yea, I’ll be there. Tell Nasir that I said thank you, I know that he’s got a lot going on as well so it means the world to me that he wants to help us out as well.” Kat’s voice was soft, a smile forming as she spoke the words. The love that everyone had for her family warmed her heart and she was glad to be a part of the family now that she was a part of it.

“Alright Kat, you want me to come and get you when you get done?” He figured that the woman would be happy to know that she didn’t have to drive herself but on the other hand he didn’t want her to feel like he felt as though he couldn’t drive herself.

“No, I got it but thanks. Settle down Duro, I’m pretty sure that you’re probably having a rough day. Faith and Karlee can be a handful but I swear I’ll be home to help out tomorrow.” The words made him feel a little better about things that were going on because he knew that she would do everything in her power to help out but it was hard to deal with still.

“I know, I know.” Duro offered a smile as he looked at the ground, her voice made him feel better and he wanted to do something for her and he hoped more than anything that she would appreciate it. “Remind me tonight by the way, I have something for you. Just don’t let me forget about it like I’ve been prone to doing lately.”

***

“You alright?” Duro sank to the bed beside Kat, his eyes wide with fear. Ever since she had gotten sick on him earlier in the year, he was worried about her getting sicker and things getting worse on him.

“Yea, yea, I’m fine.” Kat nodded as she looked up at him, her head settling upon his shoulder as she looked up at him. “I’m just a little tired that’s all. It’s been a rough day so I feel like I could crawl into bed and sleep for days before I get up again, which is nice because I’ve taken a couple of days off on vacation.”

“Good, good.” Duro nodded. “You can sleep in and take life easy for a little while, that’s what you need to do, take things simple.”

“You said you had something for me?” Kat’s brow furrowed, she hated to change the subject on him but she didn’t want to listen to him tell her what she should be doing.

“Oh, yes.” Carefully he moved out from under her head so that he didn’t hurt her by allowing her head to drop and he moved across the room opening her jewelry box. “I’m actually surprised that you didn’t find this already but since I know that you don’t wear a whole lot of jewelry, it’s a whole lot easier to hide things on you.”

“I-I don’t understand?” Kat’s eyebrows raised to look at him. “You said that I’d enjoy it but now you’re saying it’s jewelry and that you hate jewelry so how does this all fit together.”

Returning to the bed, Duro moved to sit beside her, before taking her hand within his own, wrapping the bracelet around her wrist. The tiny sapphires sparkled in the light, the diamonds glittered a happy hello. “I know that you don’t really like jewelry but I hope that this is different. It was one of my mother’s favorite pieces and I want you to have it. If it’s too much, I understand but if you’d like to wear it, it would mean the world to me.”

“O-oh my…” Kat was speechless as her finger tips ran over the bracelet, listening as he spoke about what it had meant to his mother and to him. “Duro, it’s beautiful but I’d feel awful if I lost a stone or broke it.”

“Don’t sweat it Kat. It’s insured, anything that happens to it is covered, the jeweler will fix it no questions asked. Please don’t let that be the reason to not wear it.” Duro would do anything to see it upon her wrist but this was true, he had taken care of that because he’d known she would worry of such as she always did with her jewelry.

“Thank you Duro.” Her voice was a whisper as she spoke, her eyes turning up to look at him before turning back to the jewelry on her wrist once more. She knew what his mother had meant to both he and Agron and being given something like this was truly a gift. She was having trouble fighting tears and she knew that he would be worried that she didn’t like it. “I-I really appreciate knowing that you love me enough to trust me with it.”

“I’d trust you with my life Kat, I thought that you knew that.” Duro was surprised at her reaction. “Hell, I think I have trusted you with my life a few times, I mean without you, I’d probably be dead.”

There had been times when they’d started dating that Duro had called her on the verge of suicide and somehow the woman had always managed to talk him down. It truly was love and there wasn’t anything that he would change about their lives, yet her words struck in a spot that he hadn’t anticipated. How could the woman not think that he would trust her with such? He loved her to death, as he did their kids but she seemed so shy and out of place right now.

“Daddy! Daddy!” Annie’s squeals as she came running through the door of the room, her anxiety showing as she looked at him.

“What’s the matter baby girl?” Duro’s brow furrowed as he scooped her up into his lap, holding him close to him as he did. “Are you alright?” He didn’t know what was going on but it was obvious that it was something big for her to be acting like this.

“A ducky! A ducky!” The little girl kept tossing her arms in the air, repeating the word as she looked at him, seeming to ignore that Kat was even there, a fact that allowed the woman to go and see what she was talking about.

“What do you mean a ducky?” He was having trouble understanding what the girl was talking about. They didn’t live near water and they certainly didn’t have a pet duck so where could she have found one? “On TV you mean?”

“Nos! It’s in the yards!” Annie whined, her arms tossing trying to get him to believe her. She knew that she had seen it and she wouldn’t let him believe otherwise.

“Why is there a duck in the yard?” Duro was very confused now.

“I’m not real sure but she’s right, there is a baby duck in the yard.” Kat offered leaning against the door frame of the room, her eyes drifting over him as she looked at the man.

“Well, we’ll keep an eye on it and see what happens.” Duro didn’t know what exactly was going on but what he did know was that the little girl would have a conniption if they didn’t do something about it, yet he knew that it was also best to leave the tiny bird alone until they were sure that it’s mother had truly abandoned it.

“Buts daddys it’ll die!” Annie began to insist as she pouted, throwing her arms about again.

“I promise Anne-Marie, we will keep an eye on it. Go get yourself ready for bed and I’ll be there to tuck you into bed.” Duro sighed, setting the girl on the floor. He knew that it was going to be hard to get her into bed but the little girl was insistent and she hated it when things didn’t go the way that she wanted them to.

“Fines.” Annie sighed, her toes scuffing at the carpet as she went to her own room to go and get her pjs on like he had told her.

“So what do you think?” Kat asked knowing that Duro was trying to figure out what was going on and that he had only told Annie they would keep an eye on it to ease her mind.

“I think that we cant interfere Kat, I don’t know how to tell her that though. I mean, she’s so young and she isn’t going to understand that it probably isn’t going to make it, and it’s even more likely to happen if we bring it in. I-I don’t know how to explain it to her.” Duro pursed his lips, his eyes closing as he thought about it. It was killing him that he couldn’t figure out how to deal with this because he had never been in a similar situation.

Kat simply nodded. “Whatever you think is best Duro, you know as well as I do that I would love to bring it in and try to cuddle it and love on it and make everything all better, so I’m probably the worst person to be asking about such a thing.”

“Maybe Aggie will know.” Duro sighed as he reached over grabbing the phone, all he could hope was that his brother would know what to do rather than taking the poor animal in.

***

“Duro, why do you have a duck in your yard?” Agron’s eyebrows moved to meet his brow as he spoke. He had listened as his brother had told the story and now he found himself being even more lost then he had been before. How was that possible? There was no water near by so why would there be a mother duck to begin with, much less a baby duck. He however was not surprised to hear that Anne-Marie wanted to bring the tiny creature into the house. She would always act more like Kat then she did Duro and that was something that comforted even her father.

“I know Aggie, that’s what I’m saying. I don’t have the slightest clue what to do with it and she’s having a fit. She swears it’s going to die, but I don’t have a damn clue how to raise a duck.” Duro rubbed at his eyes trying to figure out how to deal with the situation.

“No, you’re doing the right thing. It’s a wild animal; it needs to stay a wild creature. I understand that she wants to help but in the end it will probably only be worse for it then letting nature take it’s course. However, you could try calling Mira, I know that before she and Sparty opened the Candy shop she had a veterinary practice so she might know of someone who would take it in and be able to help it out.”

“Mmmm, I’ll give her a call thanks Aggie, I forgot all about that. I’ll never understand how she went from that to owning her own candy store but hopefully she’ll know of someone. I think that would make Annie feel a lot better.” Duro sighed, he hated letting the little girl down.

“Alright. Go ahead Duro, if there’s something I can do to help then let me know hey?”

“Will do Aggie, will do.” Duro was thrilled to have somewhere to start. “I’ll give you a call if we need something.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later Duro.” Agron offered before turning the phone off and setting it on the nightstand. Nasir sank to the bed beside Agron, snuggling in against him.

 “What’s up with your brother?” The words were quiet as he settled in against his lover. “I mean does he need something or was he just calling to chit chat again?”

A laugh slipped through Agron’s lips as he looked at the man in his arms. “No, he was calling to work through something. It seems that Anne-Marie found a baby duck in the yard and she’s having a fit, thinks that it’s going to die so he was trying to figure out what to do with it so that it doesn’t.”

Agron felt a soar of pride within him as he thought about it, all his little brother wanted to do was to make the little girl feel better about the tiny duck and would do anything to make sure that such was possible. It was proof that Duro had finally grown to put his family before himself, which was something that Agron had always worried about. Growing up, Duro had been a little self absorbed unless Agron was involved and as such, Duro was often like a pissed off  pit bull ready to rip your leg off. Otherwise though, he loved his brother and would do anything of him, which was still true even to this day.

“Ah, well that sounds like a fun excursion.” Nasir didn’t ask questions, it was easier that way. The brothers would work it out and make sure that everything was taken care of.

“Mmmmm he’ll be busy the rest of tonight I’m sure.” Agron laughed snuggling closer to Nasir. “The girls in bed?” He knew that he could hear Eva’s feet upstairs, the young girl had gotten home from work at the stables with Derrick around dinner time and had gone upstairs to work on homework. She’d been keeping to herself more lately since she and Travis were having a fight, he had yet to hear the details of what they were fighting about but he knew that she was pretty upset about it.

“Yea, Lea was the last one to bed and I just put her down.” Nasir nodded as he looked up at Agron, his lips pressing against his chin. “You want to go talk to Eva?” Nasir had noticed that he seemed distant and whenever the girl entered the room, he seemed even worse.

“Huh?” Agron was surprised from his thoughts; he had only been half listening, which made him feel bad. He always listened to Nasir, and now should be no different.

“I said did you want to go and talk to Eva?”

“Oh, yea, I guess one of us probably should.” Agron nodded, unwinding his arm from around Nasir before he pushed himself off the bed and moved from the room. The darkness and quiet of the house made him smile to himself, it often times reminded him of when it was just him and Nasir living together after Duro had moved out. While life had been much simpler then, his life also wasn’t complete like it was now. He had always known that something was missing from his life and now he knew exactly what that was. They had been missing the one thing that they both so desperately had wanted, kids, the young ones that now kept them so busy and often times complicated their lives but the truth was he wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

Moving up the stairs, Agron couldn’t help smiling as he paused outside of Derrick’s room peeking in. The young boy lay asleep upon the bed, Duke lying beside the bed. Hearing footsteps in the hallways, the dogs head lifted up to look at him before he realized who it was and returned to his slumbers which meant that he trusted whoever was in the house.


	20. Chapter 20

Moving down the hallway, he stopped at Eva’s room, knocking lightly on the door waiting for the girl to answer.

A moment later the door opened, the small brunette looking up at him. “Is there something that I can do for you?” She wasn’t being sarcastic; she simply wanted to know why he was there.

“I wanted to talk to you.” Agron’s voice was quiet as he spoke, not meaning to upset her though he was sure that the conversation at hand would probably do just that.

“About what?” Agron wasn’t surprised to see that she leaned against the door frame opposite him and looked as if she was mocking him. He did have to agree with Nasir, she was beginning to become more and more like him with each moment.

“I just wanted to see if you were alright.” Agron sighed as he looked at the young girl. “I know that you and Travis have been fighting lately and it’s been tough on you and I just, I just wanted to make sure that you were ok.”

“It is no big deal.” Eva shrugged as she looked at him. “It’s not really fighting, it’s simply having a disagreement.”

“Does this have anything to do with the fact that Travis was accepted to Duke and he’s considering going? Eva, do you know what that means for him? It’s an amazing opportunity, and I know that you love him.” Agron shook his head, he wished that he could find the words to tell her what he was thinking and what he wanted to truly say to her. His patience for words was never very long and this was no exception to the rule it seemed.

“I-I do love him.” Eva sighed closing her eyes as she looked at the man. “I just, I’ve come to get used to him being here when I need him and if he’s across the country, I just…I dunno.” She sighed turning around and sinking to her bed as she looked up at Agron.

“Life is never easy Eva, but judging by the way that he looks at you, it’s easy to see that he is in love with you.” Agron’s voice was gentle as he spoke, his hand setting on the girl’s shoulder as he moved closer. “I know it’s hard but sometimes you have to let something you love go in order to see if it’s going to come back.”

“But what if it doesn’t?” Eva looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes as she did.

Agron bit at his lip trying to decide what to tell her, he knew it wouldn’t be easy for the girl to hear and it certainly wouldn’t be what she wanted to hear either and he wished that he could save her that feeling. “Unfortunitly Eva, if it doesn’t come back to you, that normally means that it wasn’t worth the work and the effort to begin with.” He wished that he could tell him that it was nothing that she should worry about but he couldn’t. He couldn’t tell her that nothing was going to happen, that her and Travis would be together forever. While he wished that it was true, there was no way to tell yet. There was no way to say that nothing would happen while he was gone and that they would be together the rest of their lives. Sadly, it was possible that something would happen and they wouldn’t end up together but he had been there his fair share of times as well.

Eva simply nodded the tears slipping down her cheeks, eyes turning to the floor. “I-I think I’m going to go to bed.” In truth she had a lot of thinking to do, and while she might not sleep, she would likely lay there staring at the ceiling for a few hours but she wouldn’t tell Agron that, not now anyways.

“Alright.” Gently he pulled the girl into a hug, holding her close to him before he leaned his head pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “You know where we are if you decide that you would like to talk about whatever it is that’s going on in your head alright?”

Nodding Eva moved from his arms as he released her, crawling into bed she pulled the blanket over herself, crawling onto her side, her back to him as she listened to him pad across the room.

Quietly he flicked the light off, offering a smile as Aries lumbered in flopping down on the floor beside the bed before he slipped into the hallway and moved towards the stairs. He winced at the sound of Eva’s tears and knew that there was nothing that he could do to quiet them, even if he wanted to. This was one situation that she was going to have to work through and decide how to handle it on his own.

Finally he returned to the room that he and Nasir shared, crawling in beside the man that he had given his heart to, wrapping his arm around him as he held him close to him. It killed him that Eva was suffering and there was nothing that he could do about it and yet, he knew it was exactly that. A situation that he could do nothing about. This was one of the many times that he found himself feeling as though he was a failure at being a parent and he wished he knew how to make it better.

“It will work out as it should Agron.” Nasir’s voice was quiet as his hand reached up taking hold of the hand that was draped over him.

It was such a simple gesture and even so, it made Agron feel that much better about everything. It was in these simple moments, the feeling of his lovers hand against his, the man felt so grounded and so capable of getting through anything. “I know, I know. I just don’t like it when they suffer. I know that it’s the way it has to be and such but, it’s hard to watch them suffer.”

“I know it is Agron, believe me, I don’t like it anymore than you do but, she will figure it out. She will find her way through this and as much as I hate to say it, we cant help her through it no matter what we want to do. I want to help just as much as you do but we cant do that this time.” The sigh that slipped through Nasir’s lips made Agron’s heart sink. He knew that he was right. They couldn’t help her out of this, this time anyways but she still needed them that much they knew and Agron would be there when she decided that she still needed their help and he would be more than happy to help out if that was the case.

“I know Nasir, I just don’t know what to do about the whole situation. I feel for her, I understand why he’s leaving, and part of me wonders if she understand that this isn’t for another year yet. So much can happen in that amount of time and she might be worrying herself about nothing at all. Hell, maybe he’ll decide that he wants to go somewhere else closer to home and then she wont have anything to worry about.” Taking a deep breath he pushed on, knowing that this probably wouldn’t be the case, no matter how much he hoped that it would be. “But above all else, I just want her to be happy, because she deserves that.”

“I know Agron, and we’ve tried the best that we can to make her life that way, now it’s up to her.” His voice was gentle as he spoke. “Let her fly and see what happens.”

***

“What are you doing?” Agron grinned as he moved to the bottom porch step, feet settling upon the ground a he sat down. He knew that Eva had been quiet, that she was still sorting things out but he also knew that the girl was having trouble trying to decide what to do with the whole situation.

However right now, she was among the rose bushes in the front yard trying her hardest to tug at something that he couldn’t quite make out just yet.

“I am trying to get this weed out but it just wont come out no matter how hard I try.” She had managed to brace her foot against the side of the house and was tugging with all of her might, cussing as the rose bush thorns tore at her leg.

“Would you like help with it?” He would help if that was what she wanted but if not then he would let her struggle through it on her own. He had often times learned that while she acted like him, she had Nasir’s personality which meant that she would get offended if you tried to do something for her even though it was done with love.

“Please, I should probably go in and clean up my leg.” Finally pulling it from where it was entwined within the bush, she looked down at the scratches, cuts and scrapes that the thorns digging at the exposed skin had left. Though to her credit, Eva hadn’t ever flinched, she hadn’t whined or otherwise shown any weakness, she simply looked down at it sighing as if she was disgusted with how the leg looked.

“Um, yea that would probably be a good idea.” Agron nodded as he looked at it wondering how she had managed to get through without crying, in truth, he would have considered tears himself and it was rare that he ever cried. “Oh, probably best that you not let your dad see that either. You know how he feels about blood and all.”

“Good idea.” Eva laughed as she pushed herself from the ground starting for the house. It didn’t seem to bother her that the leg was stiff, unwilling to bend because it hurt more than it normally did when she did. “The band aids are still in your bathroom right?” She bit at her lip hoping that they were since she wasn’t sure where else to find them if not.

“Yea, they’re on the second shelf in the medicine cabinet. If you cant find them let me know and I’ll see about helping you find them.” Agron offered a warm smile, looking at the girl before he went to go and pull out the weeds for her. Grabbing hold of it, he tugged finding himself laying on his own back staring up at the sky, though the offending weed was still in his hand as he did. It was easier for him then it had been for Eva but it had obviously still been tough.

Pushing himself back up into a sitting position, Agron’s eyes fell upon the rose bushes before him. Eva had tended to them for so many years now, even when she didn’t want to, the girl had come out and weeded or trimmed or taken off the dead flowers. It had been a long time since he had seen them nearly as beautiful as they were now but perhaps that was because he hadn’t known what to do with them.

When he and Duro had moved out of the home they’d spent their childhood in, he’d dug them up and replanted them here in the flower bed. They were a happy memory of his mother that he hadn’t been able to part with so easily. Yet they had grown every year but they had certainly never gotten the love and care that they so desperately needed.

When Eva had turned thirteen though, Eva had taken over looking after them and even Agron had to admit she had amazing results.

“You got it!” Eva laughed as she walked up behind him, before she sank to the grass once more. “I thought about what you said last night.” Her words were quiet as she spoke them, finger tips playing at the grass on the ground allowing a sigh to slip between her lips as she looked at him.

“And?” Agron nodded. He didn’t want to push if that was truly what she wanted to talk about then she would but if not then the girl would leave the statement as she had made it.

“And I think that you’re right.” Eva’s eyes turned up to look at him. “If Travis wants to go, then that needs to be where he is.” The words were hard for her to speak but she knew that she must speak them.

“We will always be here for you Eva, I wont lie to you and pretend like this is going to be easy or that you aren’t going to have issues in life but I will promise that no matter what you can always come to me and talk about it.” Agron’s voice was gentle as he spoke before he pulled the girl into a hug. “And I don’t know if I’ve told you before or not but those rose bushes look amazing. They look just as beautiful as they did when my mother had them so many years ago.”

“You miss her don’t you?” Eva’s voice surprised him even more than the fact that he had spoken of his mother, something that he so rarely did lately.

“Every day.” Agron sighed as he leaned back against his elbows on the grass. “She was such a sweet woman, she loved everything about life. Your Uncle and I caused an awful lot of havoc but she never blinked an eye at it. In fact she normally gave us sweets and told us to go play where our father couldn’t get to us.”

“And she was alright with the fact that you were…” She was trying to find the words to finish the sentence when he started to laugh.

“The fact that I am gay?” He asked as he looked at her. “To be honest, she didn’t know, even your uncle Duro didn’t know until later on in life. I guess I knew but I hadn’t admitted it to myself yet. Anyways to get back to your question, I think that if she had still been around when I finally came out about it, I’d like to think that she would have been accepting. My father probably would have tried to beat it out of me but it wouldn’t have mattered to mom. She said that it was more about how you treated others than who you loved. I’m pretty sure that she meant that too.”

“Dad?” The word brought him out of his day dream and the questioning nature that she had said it in made him wonder what she wanted to ask.

“What’s up Evs?” Agron’s voice was distant still as he spoke but he wanted to know that everything was alright with the young girl and he wondered what she was about to ask.

“Would it be alright if we took the tiny little bush over there that sprouted up and put it beside her headstone?” Eva felt as though that was the appropriate place for it to be and she didn’t have room in the flower bed to put it so this seemed as though it was a good idea, that was as long as he was alright with it.

“You know Eva, I think that’s an amazing idea.” Agron grinned as he looked at the young girl. She was sweet, she had some of the best ideas and this truly was one that he appreciated. I’ll call your uncle when we go in and make sure that it’s alright with him too.”

***

“Hey Duro, I’ve got a question for you. Do you think you’d mind if Eva took one of mom’s rosebushes out to cemetery and put it next to her headstone?” Agron was sure that Duro was ok with it but he wanted to be sure none the less. While Duro was much like himself and rarely spoke of his mother, Duro would speak of the subject with him when it was brought up. It was a tough thing to do but he needed to know what his brother thought of the subject. He certainly wouldn’t allow Eva to do it if he wasn’t completely behind it.

“No, that sounds like a great idea. I was just saying to Kat the other day that we should do something but I couldn’t think of what to do and so I didn’t say anything. Let me know when you decide to do it though ok? I’d like to visit, but I guess I haven’t been able to find the nerve to do it lately. I’m not sure what it is but I get as far as the cemetery and I just cant will myself forward any farther.”

“Yea, I’ll call and let you know. Once we get it planted maybe you and Kat can go see it. You’ve never been able to go out there by yourself, so it doesn’t surprise me that you cant now. Anyways, we’ll probably go out later today and plant it so that’ll give you some kind of time frame to decide when you’re going out.” Agron’s voice was gentle. He knew that his baby brother was upset, that he had a hard time dealing with their parent’s death and he couldn’t blame him. Agron had always dealt with it better than Duro but he had always supposed that it was because he had needed to stay strong with Duro and had never been able to truly break down for fear of Duro catching on and breaking down as well. It hadn’t always been easy but it had been the way that their life had been for all of these years now.

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later Bruder.” Duro offered a weak smile as he spoke wanting to be happy for him, for all of them.

“Later Duro.” Returning the phone from the counter Agron moved into the living room. “You can start digging it up Eva, Uncle Duro said it was completely alright and in fact, he wanted to see it when it’s done.”

“Alright.” Eva was pushing herself up from the couch happily grinning as she moved. While she knew that it was a solemn occasion, she couldn’t help being excited and happy about being able to add to the family in some way. Pushing herself up on her toes, Eva hugged the man standing in front of her. “Thank you, for allowing me to do this. This is hard for you but you are allowing me to be a part of this and that makes me feel so many different things that you don’t understand and could never understand.”

“You’re welcome Eva, it’s a wonderful thing that you asked to do and I’m sure that it would mean a lot to your grandmother as well if she were here. So with that said, I’m glad that you could do something that you wanted to do in order to make things better and creative for yourself.” His arms wrapped around the little girl smiling as he did. He knew that Nasir and the rest of the kids were out doing other things and that allowed him to give her the time and the attention that she needed. “Maybe if you feel like up to it, you can call Travis and see if he wants to go with us. I know that this isn’t exactly great date material but it would allow for time together.”

“You know, I have another thought. How about before we leave we call Uncle Duro and see if he wants to go with us. I mean that way he can see it and he wouldn’t have to go alone.” Eva was trying her hardest to find a way to make all of the pieces fit together and in this instance she wasn’t sure that there was a way but she would surely try.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea Eva.”

***

“I know, I know Duro.” Agron shook his head settling to the ground beside the hard stone, his fingers running over it as he sank to the grass. “It’s been too long since we’ve been here and I agree.” His voice was quiet as he spoke, his fingers traced the woman’s name sighing softly as he did.

Duro sank to the ground opposite Agron sighing as he looked at the stone, seeming to be afraid of touching it, of taking in the memory that was obviously chiseled in stone. There was no way to get away from the fact that she had been killed, that she had been taken from them far too early and that there was no way to change this.

Meanwhile Eva had already set to work digging a hole to put a bush in. She didn’t seem to be phased by the two of them chit chatting, in fact she was content working on her own, she was used to it after her time at the stable and she enjoyed what she was doing so it was even less of a problem for her.

“Remember that time when we were little and mom took us to the beach and those little ducks came up to play with us?” Agron’s eyes drifted to his little brother.

Agron had been all of eight at the time and Duro was five, they’d insisted on going to the beach and their mother hadn’t argued with them even when there was cause to. They’d happily played in the water for hours that day, enjoying what the water had to offer and while they were sitting in the sand building a castle, the tiny ducks had waddled up on the beach, their mother watching from the waters edge as the baby ducks investigated the little boys on the beach.

“Yea, I remember it well actually.” Duro nodded as he looked at him. “In fact, I think that there are pictures of it somewhere. You know how mom was about pictures, she loved taking pictures and sharing them with others. Gods, we aught to dig those out of the attic later on and go through them. I’m sure that Eva here would enjoy seeing what we were like when we were younger.”

It was true that their mother had insisted upon taking pictures of everything and Agron was sure that there probably were a lot of pictures that Eva would enjoy seeing.

“Yea, yea when we get back.” There were probably pictures up to the time when she had been killed and it was hard for them both but it had been a long time since they had gone through them and now seemed like the perfect time to start doing so again. “We really should start enjoying things again the way that we used to before…” He drifted off wanting to make things better if he could.

“You’re right Aggie. It’s time that we start celebrating her life again. Evs do you need a hand?” Duro’s eyes turned to where the girl was trying to hold the rose bush and fill the hole back in.

“If you don’t mind.” She hated to break up their trip down memory lane if she could avoid it but it was beginning to grow harder and harder to do.

Reaching out the man took hold of the rose bush, holding onto it as she continued to fill in around it.

“So we going to show Eva the pictures of you with dreadlocks?” Agron grinned as he looked at his younger brother as he spoke. Duro had gone through a phase where his hair had been put into dreads for a couple of years before eventually realizing that he hated it.

“Only if you’re going to show her yours.” A laugh slipped through Duro’s lips as he teased his brother. They both knew that it had been a phase that they had gone through and if it had been a bad one then they had rocked it either way. “Which by the way was a beautiful look for you big brother.”


End file.
